NEGA  TIVE 
NO.  91-80400 


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AUTHOR: 


HURCH,  ALFRED  JOHN 


TITLE: 


LY  BRITAIN 


PLACE: 


YORK 


/**"* 


TE: 


18 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARCFT 


Master  Negative  # 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


942.01 
C471 


Church,  Alfred  John,  1829-1912 • 

...  Early  Britain,  by  Alfred  J.  Church  ... 
llevr   York,  G.  P.  Putnam*  s  sons,  1898. 

2  p.l.,  tviij-xviii,  382  p.   illus,  (incl. 
oort.,  plan)  maps.   20^.    (The  stcry  of  the 
nations) 

Earlier  odition  has  title:  The  story  of  early 
Britain. 


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EARLY  BRITAIN 


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BRONZE  SHIELD— LATE   CELTIC  WORK.       FOUND  IN   THE  THAMES 

AT    BATTERSF.A. 

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Urom  'iic  jrt'^inal  in  (hl  I-irUiJi  MustiDu.  • 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  NATIONS 


EARLY  BRITAIN 


BY 


•   I    •  » 


^r^ALFFfEDi.' CHURCH,  M.A. 

AUTHOR  OP  -STORIES  FROM  HOMER,"  "cARTHAGE,"  *' THE  COUNT  OF  THE  SAXON 
,   P?i*^'',^  \ "^^   r^'iE.^  CK^i.ifi  i:Hii,I>R^N,"  ''  TO  THE  LIONS,"  ETC. 


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NEW  YORK 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

LONDON:  T.  FISHER  UNWIN 
1898 


:  •••  .• 


Copyright 
ByG.  B^PCTDrA^'^'JftpitJ*  : 

•  1089..  .      ,         .         •,•       •.. 

Entertd  ai  Staiifiueifs'JianfLsiuiitK       •  •  •     •  .     . 

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G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York 


943.  .0\ 

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PREFACE. 


I  DESIRE  to  make  a  most  grateful  acknowledgment 
of  the  assistance  which  I  have  received  in  writing  this 
book  from  the  "  Norman  Conquest "  of  Professor 
Freeman  and  from  Mr.  J.  R.  Green's  "  Short  History 
of  England"  and  "The  Making  of  England." 
From  time  to  time  in  the  course  of  these  pages 
special  references  are  made  to  these  works  ;  but  these 
references  express  but  a  small  part  of  my  obligations 
to  them. 

I  have  also  consulted  with  great  advantage  to 
myself  the  "  History  of  England  under  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  Kings "  of  Dr.  Lappenburg,  and  Sharon 
Turner's  "History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons"  ;  the  "  Dic- 
tionary of  English  History,"  edited  by  Messrs^  Low 
and  Pulling  (Cassell  and  Co.)  ;  the  "  Dictionary  of 
National  Biography " ;  Dr.  Collingwood  Bruce's 
"  Roman  Wall "  ;  and  several  of  the  volumes  included 
in  the  Rolls  Series. 

For  one  or  two  incidents  in  the  story  there  is,  as 
far  as  I  am  aware,  no  other  authority  than  the 
Pseudo-Ingulphus.  The  Charters  given  in  the 
*'  Description  of   Croyland  Abbey "  are  unquestion- 


VllI 


PREFACE. 


ably  forgeries ;  but  the  narrative,  which  embodies 
genuine  records  and  traditions,  need  not  therefore  be 
wholly  discredited. 

I  do  not  know  whether  it  is  necessary  to  vindicate 
the  propriety  of  my  title.  This  island  may  have 
ceased  to  be  properly  called  "  Britain "  after  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century  ;  but  it  certainly  could 
not  be  called  "  England "  before  that  time.  To 
the  writers  and  readers  of  Latin  it  was  always 
"  Britannia,"  and  it  is  still  formally  known  as 
"  Britain  "  to  the  rest  of  the  world 


A.  J.   CHURCH. 


Barnet, 

Augusty  1889. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface 


PAGE 

vii 


I. 


Britain  before  the  Romans   . 


I-IO 


Iberians  and  Belgian  Celts,  3— Caesar's  Account  of  Britain,  5 
—The  Druids,  7— Laws  of  the  Druids,  9. 


II. 


C/ESAR  IN  Britain  {First  Expedition) 


12-21 


Defeat  of  the  Britons,   17— Stratagem  of  the  Britons,   19— 
Caesar  sets  sail  for  Gaul,  21. 


IIL 


22-30 


C/ESAR  IN  Britain  {Second  Expedition)     . 

The  Second  Landing,  23— British  Valour,  25— The  "  Town  " 
of  Caswallon,  27— Hostages  and  Yearly  Tribute,  29. 

IV. 

Britain  and  the  Successors  of  Caesar  3i~38 

Caligula's  Whims,  33— Caractacus,  35— Claudius,  37 

V. 

Caractacus 39-47 

Oration  on  the  Battle-field,  41— Caradoc  in  Rome,  43— Cara- 
doc  pardoned  by  Claudius,  45— Death  of  Ostorius,  47. 


X 


CONTENTS. 


VL 


BOADICEA    . 


PAGE 

48-57 


Subjugation  of  Mona,  49 — Capture  of  Camalodunum,  51 — 
Movements  of  Suetonius,  53  —  The  Britons  defeated,  55 — 
State  of  Britain  in  A.D.  7I)  57. 


VII. 


Agricola  in  Command 


58-65 


The  Ordovices,  59 — Ireland  first  mentioned  in  History,  63 — 
Recall  of  Agricola,  65. 


VIII. 


The  Roman  Walls  . 


66-78 


Southern  Britain,  67 — Construction  of  the  Wall,  69 — Military 
Roads,  73 — Severus  Visits  Britain,  77. 


IX. 


The  Tyrants    . 


79-91 


Fresh  Expedition  to  Britain,  83— A  Blank  in  History,  85— 
Defeat  and  Death  of  Maximus,  87— Influence  of  the  Romans 
on  Britain,  89— Bignor  and  Ched worth,  91. 


.     92-1 I I 


X. 

The  English  Conquest  .... 

The  Legend  of  Vortigern,  93— Hengist  and  Horsa,  95— The 
Wood  called  "  Andreds weald,"  97— The  West  Saxons  in 
Britain,  99 — The  Angles,  loi— The  Kingdom  of  Northumbria, 
103— The  Kingdom  of  Mercia,  105— The  Boundary  of  Wales, 
107— The  King's  Scaur,  109— The  Story  of  the  Cave,  lii- 

XI 

Thk  First  Four  Bretwaldas  (Elle,  Ceawlin, 

Ethelbert,  Redwald)  .  .112-119 

Bretwalda,  Britannia,  and  Br>'ten,  113— Ceawlin,  of  Wessex, 
115— Redwald,  King  of  Anglia,  117— Edwin,  the  Fifth  Bret- 
walda, 119. 


CONTENTS, 


XII. 


The  Conversion  of  England 


XI 


PAGE 
I2O-I3I 


^'De  Ira  Eruti,"  I2i-Augustine  looks  to  British  Churches, 
123-The  Vision  of  Edwin,  125-Relapse  into  Paganism,  127 
-The  Spread  of  Christianity,  129-Wilfrid  baptizes  the 
Southern  Saxons,  131. 


XIII. 

The  Northumbrian  Bretwaldas  . 


132-139 


Peaceful  Britain,  133-Oswald  kneels  to  the  Cross,  135- 
Defeat  of  Penda,  137-The  History  of  Northumbria  ends, 
139. 

XIV. 

The  Supremacy  of  Mercia   ....     140-150 

Ethelred  and  Ceolred,  141— Edilhun  the  West  Saxon,  143— 
Oflfa's  Eminence,  145— The  Faie  of  Edelfrida,  149. 


XV. 
Caedmon,  Bede,  and  Cuthbert     .         .         .     151-166 

Caedmon's  Vision,  153— Poetry  of  Caedmon,  155— Bede's  Life, 
157— The  Story  of  Bede's  Death,  159— The  Works  of  Bede, 
I6i-Cuthbert's  Early  History,  163-The  Abbot  of  Lindis- 
farne,  165. 


XVI. 


The  English  People 


167-177 


The  Slave,  the  Thane,  the  Alderman,  171— Social  Matters, 
173-The  Food  of  the  People,  175-Hunting,  Hawks,  and 
Harpers,  177. 

XVII. 

Wessex  and  Egbert 178-184 

Story  of  Ina's  Abdication,  179— King  Egbert's  Conquests,  183. 


X  jMaaijg-  tft.  j-'aifg^-ja. 


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Xll 


CONTENTS. 


XVIII. 


PAGE 


The  Successors  of  Egbert,  and  the  Danes     185-198 

The  Pagans  waste  Sceapige,  187— Alderman  Ealcher,  189— 
The  Lindsey  Men  defeat  the  Danes,  191— The  Story  of  King 
Edmund,  193— Batde  of  Ashdune,  195— Ethelred  succeeds 
Ethelbert,  197. 


XIX. 
Alfrfd,  THE  Man  of  War     . 


199-214 


Alfred  as  a  Scholar,  201— The  Northmen  conquer  North- 
umbria,  203— The  Story  of  the  Cakes,  205— Pirates  beaten  at 
at  Sea,  207— Battle  of  Farnham,  209— The  Danes  chased 
through  England,  211— Sea  Fight,  213. 


XX. 


Alfred,  the  Man  of  Peace  . 


215-224 


Alfred's  administration  of  justice,  217— Education,  Letters, 
and  Learning,  219 — Works  attributed  to  Alfred,  221. 


XXL 

Edward  the  Elder,  and  Athelstan 


225-238 


London  and  Oxford,  227 — Edward's  Statesmanship,  229 — 
William  of  Malmesbury,  231— The  Story  of  Anlaf,  233— Battle 
of  Brunanburgh,  235 — Athelstan's  Reforms,  237. 


XXIL 

Edmund  I.  and  Edred  . 

"He  harried   all   Cumbria,"  241 
Britain,  243. 


.      239-244 
Edred  Emperor  of  all 


XXIIL 


DUNSTAN 


245-256 


Coronation  of  Edwy,  249 — Edgar  and  his  Peaceful  Reign,  251 
— The  English  Fleet,  253 — Increase  of  Domestic  Trade,  255. 


CONTENTS. 


xin 


XXIV. 

Edward   (the  Martyr)  and   Ethelred  the 
Unready 

Death  of  Dunstan,  261— Battle  of  Maldon,  263. 


PAGE 


257-266 


XXV. 


Ethelred  and  Sweyn 


267-275 


Ravage  of  Cumberland  and  Man,  269 — St.  Brice's  Day,  273 
— Gunhild's  Prophecy,  275. 


XXVL 

The  Vengeance  for  St,  Brice's  Day  . 


276-294 


Norwich  and  Thetford  burnt,  277 — Buying  off  the  Pagans, 
279 — Hampshire  and  Berkshire  ravaged,  281 — Demoralized 
state  of  the  Country,  283 — Forty-eight  'Ihousand  Pounds 
Ransom,  285 — Sweyn  virtually  King  of  England,  287 — 
Canute  ravages  the  W^est  Country,  289 — A  Succession  of 
Fierce  Battles,  291— The  Battle  of  Aslingdon,  293. 


XXVIL 


Canute 


295-310 


Danegelt  of  ;^82,500,  297 — Canute's  Journey  to  Rome,  299 — 
Organization  of  the  House  Carles,  301 — Canute  favours  the 
Church,  303 — Ely,  305 — Death  of  Canute,  307 — Anecdotes  of 
Cnut,  309. 

XXVIII. 


The  Sons  of  Canute 


311-319 


Claimants  to  the  Throne,  313 — Hardicanute  invades  England, 
315 — The  English  taxed,  317 — End  of  Canute's  Dynasty,  319. 


XXIX. 


Edward  the  Confessor 


320-330 


Edward  crowned  King,  321 — Magnus  claims  the  Throne,  323 
— Sweyn's  Crime,  325— Banishment  of  Earl  Godwin,  329. 


t-i*^*'    <«.iuTmj'»j<f  W.'j^l  <»*•  <iAitAi;fcx.«s   ■- "^'Ji.;  ■  Vffc.. 


XIV 


CONTENTS, 


XXX. 

PAGE 

The  Supremacy  of  Harold  .        .        •        •     331-343 

Death  of  Godwin,  335-The  Welsh  burn  Hereford,  337- 
Harold  falls  into  William's  hands,  341  -  Banishment  of 
Tostig,  343- 

XXXI. 

William  of  Normandy  .         •         •        •        •     344-35° 

The    Norman   Succession,  345-William  defeats  the   Rebel 
Normans,  347— Matilda  of  Flanders,  349- 

XXXII. 

The  Accession  of  Harold  and  the  Campaign 

IN  THE  North. 35 ^"3  ° 

Prophecy  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  353-Harold  is  crowned 
King,  355-Battle  of  Fulford,  357-Slaughter  of  the  North- 
men, 359- 

XXXIII. 

The  Last  Struggle       .        .        •        •        •    3^1-375 

The  Pope.  William's  Ally,  363-Embaikment  of  the  Normans, 
365- William  on  English  Soil,  367-Harold  raises  Levies  in 
London,  369-Harold's  Position  at  Senlac,  371-Wilhams 
Strategy,  373— Finis,  375. 


Index 


377 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

BRONZE  shield,  LATE  CELTIC  WORK,  FOUND  IN 
THE  THAMES  AT  BATTERSEA.  FROM  THE 
ORIGINAL    IN    THE    BRITISH    MUSEUM,  FrOUtisptece 

NEOLITHIC  SPEAR-HEAD,  OR  CELT.  FOUND  NEAR 
CHELMSFORD,  ESSEX.  FRONT  AND  SIDE  VIEWS 
TAKEN,  BY  PERMISSION,  FROM  '*  TRANSACTIONS 
OF  THE  ESSEX  FIELD  CLUB  "  .  .  .  .4 

SHIELD  OF  THE  BRONZE  AGE.  FOUND  IN  A  TUR- 
BARY CALLED  RHYD-Y-GORSE,  ABERYSTWITH. 
FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  IN  THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM,  6 

VIEW  OF  STONEHENGE  (RESTORATION)     ...  8 

STONEHENGE  — PRESENT  STATE.  FROM  A  PHOTO- 
GRAPH BY  MESSRS.  POULTON      .  .  .  .  II 

BRONZE    HELMET.       FROM    THE    ORIGINAL    IN    THE 

BRITISH    MUSEUM 15 

PLAN  OF  CAMP  AT  AMBRESBURY  BANKS,  EPPING 
FOREST  (supposed  BRITISH  TOWn).  TAKEN 
BY  PERMISSION  FROM  "  TRANSACTIONS  OF  THE 
ESSEX  FIELD  CLUB  "  .  .  .  .  .         28 

COIN  OF  CLAUDIUS.  (tHE  FIRST  OCCASION  ON  WHICH 
ALLUSION  IS  MADE  TO  BRITAIN  ON  THE  COIN- 
AGE OF  ROME.)  BY  PERMISSION  OF  THE  REV. 
^.  COLLINGWOOD  BRUCE    .  .  ,  ,  ,         37 

XV 


BWL«'..«8la»i 


XVI 


ILLUSTRA  TIONS. 


ILL  US  TRA  TIOI^S. 


xvn 


I 


TRAJAN  S  COLUMN.  FROM  A  CAST  IN  THE  SOUTH 
KENSINGTON  MUSEUM 

ROMAN  GATES  OF  CHESTER 

COIN  OF  VESPASIAN.  BY  PERMISSION  OF  THE  REV. 
J.  COLLINGWOOD  BRUCE 

SUPPOSED  ROMAN  BATHS  AT  SILCHESTER.  FROM  A 
PHOTOGRAPH  BY  MISS  MONRO,  OF  STRAT- 
FIELDSAYE    RECTORY 

INSCRIPTION  FOUND  AT  CASTLE  CARY       . 

COIN  OF  HADRIAN.  BY  PERMISSION  OF  THE  REV.  J. 
COLLINGWOOD  BRUCE 

THE  ROMAN  WALL  AT  BRUNTON.  FROM  THE  REV. 
J.  COLLINGWOOD  BRUCE's  "  THE  ROMAN  WALL," 

COIN  OF  HADRIAN.  BY  PERMISSION  OF  THE  REV. 
J.  COLLINGWOOD  BRUCE 

REMAINS  OF  ROMAN  CAMP  AT  SILCHESTER.  FROM 
A  PHOTOGRAPH  BY  S.  V.  WHITE,  OF  READING     . 

ROMAN  MILITARY  ALTAR.  BY  PERMISSION  OF  THE 
REV.  J.  COLLINGWOOD  BRUCE     .... 

COIN  OF  ANTONINUS  PIUS.  BY  PERMISSION  OF  THE 
REV.  J.  COLLINGWOOD  BRUCE     .... 

ROMAN  VASE  OF  DARK  BROWN  CAISTOR  WARE. 
FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  IN  THE  BRITISH    MUSEUM, 

COIN    OF    CARAUSIUS 

ROMAN  TESSELATED  PAVEMENT.  FROM  THE  ORIG- 
INAL   IN    THE    BRITISH    MUSEUM 

ROMAN    RUINS,    LINCOLN 

MAP  OF  ROMAN  BRITAIN,  A.D.  577     .... 

FLINT  KNIVES.  FROM  **  TRANSACTIONS  OF  THE  ESSEX 
FIELD  CLUB  " 

STATUE  OF  A  RIVER  GOD  (rOMAn),  PROBABLY  THE 
NORTH  TYNE.  BY  PERMISSION  OF  THE  REV.  J, 
COLLINGWOOD  BRUCE 


PAGB 

44 
57 

58 

61 
65 

67 

68 

69 

71 
75 

77 

81 
83 

90 

91 

106 

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III 


PAGE 

ANGLO-SAXON  POTTERY.  FOUND  IN  NORFOLK,  KENT, 
AND    CAMBRIDGE.        FROM     THE     ORIGINALS   IN 

THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM II 8 

PAGE  OF  GOSPELS.       FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  MS.      .            .       13O 
CHAPEL  AT   BRADFORD-ON-AVON.      EARLIEST    SPECI- 
MEN OF  SAXON  BUILDING  EXTANT      .            .            .147 
SAXON  CHURCH  AND  REMAINS  OF    MONASTERY,  JAR- 
ROW  156 

RUINS  OF   LINDISFARNE 162 

ST.  CUTHBERT's  CROSS 165 

ANGLO-SAXON  CALENDAR — PLOUGHING.      FROM  THE 

ORIGINAL  MS 169 

ANGLO-SAXON  DRINKING  HORN.    FROM  THE  ORIGINAL 

IN  THE  BRITISH    MUSEUM 1 74 

CHARLEMAGNE.       FROM  THE  PAINTING  BY  DURER      .        181 

CROYLAND  ABBEY I92 

MAP  OF  BRITAIN,  A.  D.  827  .  .  .  .  .       1 96 

ANGLO-SAXON  JEWELS.  FROM  OTTO  HENNE  AM 
RHYN's  "  CULTUR  GESCHIC'ITE  DES  DEUTSCHEN 
VOLKES"  .  .  .  ...  .  .  .210 

ANGLO-SAXON    CALENDAR REAPING.        FROM     THE 

ORIGINAL   MS 2x6 

JEWELS  OF  ALFRED  THE  GREAT.  FROM  OTTO 
HENNE    AM   RHYN's  "  CULTUR  GESCHICHTE  DES 

DEUTSCHEN   VOLKES " 223 

INSTALLATION  OF  A  SAXON  KING       ....       230 
ANGLO-SAXON   CUP.        FOUND   AT   HALTON,    LANCA- 
SHIRE   242 

DUNSTAN.      FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  MS.  .  .  .      247 

EDGAR.      FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  MS 254 

CORFE  CASTLE  ;    THE  KING's  TOWER  ;    SAXON  WORK,       259 

VIKING  SHIP 265 

SAXON    PENNIES  ;     FOURTEEN    SPECIMENS     OF     THE 

COINAGE  OF  VARIOUS  KINGS        .  ,  .  .       271 


xvni 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

DANISH  WAR  VESSEL            .            .            .            .            .            •       274 
OLD  LONDON  BRIDGE  (EARLIEST   KNOWN   REPRESEN- 
TATION)     291 

ELY  CATHEDRAL 3^4 

DURHAM  CATHEDRAL 3^^ 

ANGLO-SAXON    DRINKING    GLASS.      FOUND    AT    ASH- 
FORD,     KENT.      FROM     THE    ORIGINAL    IN    THE 

BRITISH   MUSEUM 3^7 

PEVENSEY  CASTLE.     FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH  BY  MESSRS. 

POULTON 333 

WILLIAM     OF     NORMANDY.       FROM     THE     BAYEAUX 

TAPESTRY 339 

SEAL    OF    EDWARD     THE    CONFESSOR.        FROM    THE 

ORIGINAL  IN  THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM    .  .  .      352 

HAWKING.      FROM  THE  BAYEAUX  TAPESTRY      .  .      362 

SHIPBUILDING.  FROM  THE  BAYEAUX  TAPESTRY  .  364 
SHIPS  OF  WAR.  FROM  THE  BAYEAUX  TAPESTRY  .  368 
FOUNDATION  OF  THE  CHOIR  OF  BATTLE   ABBEY  AND 

SITE  OF  THE  HIGH  ALTAR  ....      375 


f 


f; 


BRITAIN  BEFORE  THE  ROMANS. 

Sometime  in  the  fourth  century  B.C.  Pytheas,  a 
native  of  Massilia  (Marseilles)  visited  the  island 'of 
Britain.!     He  travelled  over  a  considerable  part  of  it, 
and  found  that  it  consisted,  for  the  most  part,  of  forest 
or  marsh.     But  there  were  open  spaces  in  the  woods 
in  which  sheep  and  cattle  were  kept,  and  there  was  a 
Strip  of  land  along  the  coast,  or,  at  least,  part  of  the 
coast,   in   which   the   traveller   saw   wheat   growing. 
"This    wheat,"    the     traveller    says,    "the     natives 
threshed,  not  on  open  floors,  but  in  barns,  because 
they  had  so  little  sunshine  and  so  much  rain."     As  he 
went  further  north  he  found  that  corn  could  not  be 
grown.     The   natives  made   intoxicating   drinks,  he 
tells  us,  out  of  corn  and  honey. 

The  island  was  inhabited,  probably  at  this  time, 

^  What  is  here  said  of  Pytheas  and  his  account  of  his  travels  must  be 
taken  with  a  certain  reserve.  His  work  has  been  lost,  and  all  that  we 
know  of  It  IS  derived  from  quotations  made  from  it  by  writers  who  did 
not  attach  much  credit  to  it.  But  on  more  than  one  point  where  they 
cnticized  him,  we  know  that  he  was  right  and  they  were  wrong.  Sir 
i..  H.  Bunbury  (-  History  of  Ancient  Geography,"  i.  590  seq.)  discusses 
me  question  ftilly,  and  is  inclined  to  regard  Pytheas  as,  ia  the  main,  a 
trustworthy  writer. 


BRITAIN  BEFORE    THE  ROMANS, 


IBERIANS  AND  BELGIAN   CELTS, 


and  certainly  afterwards  when  we  reach  the  historical 
period,  by  two  races  oi  men.  Tacitus,  writing  about 
the  end  of  the  first  century  of  our  era,  says  that  the 
physical  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  Britain  differs 
much.  One  part  of  them — he  speaks  of  these  under 
the  name  of  Silures — had  dark  complexions,  and,  for 
the  most  part,  curly  hair.  These  he  identified  with 
the  Iberians,  or  inhabitants  of  Spain.  The  other 
part,  he  says,  resembled  the  Gauls.  They  had  red 
hair,  and  were  tall  of  stature. 

Caesar,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more  in  the  following 
chapters,  writing  about  a  century  and  a  half  before 
Tacitus,  gives  testimony  to  much  the  same  effect — 
that  the  interior  of  Britain  was  inhabited  by  a  race 
which  considered  itself  to  be  indigenous,  the  sea-coast 
by  another  people  which,  in  search  of  adventure  or 
booty,  had  crossed  over  from  Belgic  Gaul.  This 
people,  he  tells  us,  still  retained  the  names  by  which 
its  various  tribes  were  known  on  the  mainland. 

So  far  we  may  consider  ourselves  to  be  on  firm 
ground.  When  we  attempt  to  advance  further  we 
find  ourselves  at  a  loss.  Who  were  these  Iberians  and 
Gauls  .'* 

Some  would  identify  the  Iberians  with  the  race  still 
found  in  the  extreme  north  of  Europe,  and  known  by 
the  names  of  Lapps  and  Finns.  This  theory  may, 
with  little  or  no  hesitation,  be  set  aside.  It  is  more 
reasonable  to  see  their  kindred  in  the  Bretons,  oc- 
cupying the  extreme  north-west  of  France,  and  the 
Basques  of  Northern  Spain,  two  populations  which 
still  represent  the  Aquitani,  the  third  of  three  races 
into  which  Caesar  divides  the  inhabitants  of  ancient 


Gaul.i  The  Gauls  of  Britain,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
identified  beyond  all  doubt  with  the  Gauls  of  the 
Continent,  and  with  the  Belgic  stock  of  this  people. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  in  the  ancient  British 
burial-places — burial-places  dating  from  before  the 
time  of  the  Roman  invasion — two  very  distinct  types 
of  skull  are  found,  one  being  broad  and  the  other 
long. 2  The  same  observation  has  been  made  of 
remains  of  the  same  date  in  France.  It  has  been 
further  inferred  from  the  character  of  the  weapons 
and  articles  of  domestic  use  found  in  these  graves, 
that  the  long-headed  men  were  the  ruder  race.  And 
it  has  been  suggested  that  the  short-headed  men, 
with  their  superior  weapons,  drove  out  the  earlier 
occupants,  this  dispossession  being  the  movement 
spoken  of  by  Caesar  when  he  says  that  the  Belgian 
Gauls  crossed  over  from  the  mainland  and  occupied 
the  maritime  parts  of  the  island.  There  is  a  tempting 
neatness  in  the  hypothesis  that  the  long-headed 
Britons  were  Iberians,  the  short-headed  Belgian  Celts. 
But  facts  do  not  exactly  harmonize  with  this  theory. 
As  Professor  Huxley  remarks,  "  the  extremes  of  long- 
and  short-headedness  are  to  be  met  with  among  the 
fair  3  inhabitants  of  Germany  and  of  Scandinavia  at 
the  present  day — the  South-western  Germans  and 
the  Swiss  being  markedly  broad-headed,  while  the 
Scandinavians  are  as  predominantly  long-headed." 
Happily  the  subject  may  be  left  with  this  statement. 

'  The  three  are  Belgians,  Celts,  and  Aquitani. 

=  The  two  types  are  known  by  the  names  of  Brachycephalic  and 
Dolichocephalic. 

3  According  to  the  theory  all  the  fair,  i.e.y  non-Iberian  people,  ought 
to  be  short-headed. 


-i 


m 


^ 


B-''*a 


9 


NEOLITHIC   SPEAR-HEAD  OR  CELT. 

Found  near  Chelmsfordy  Essex.     {Front  and  Side  Vt'eaf,) 

{From  **  Transactions  of  the  Essex  Field  Ciud") 


Cesar's  account  of  Britain.  5 

It  does  not  fall  within  the  province  of  one  who  writes 
the  storj/  of  a  country  to  deal  with  the  prehistoric. 

We  may  pass  on  to  other  information  that  Csesar 
has  to  give  us  about  the  inhabitants  of  Britain.  After 
giving  his  view  of  their  origin,  he  goes  on,  "The 
population  is  numerous  beyond  all  counting,  and  very 
numerous  also  the  houses.  These  closely  resemble 
the  houses  of  the  Gauls.  They  have  great  numbers 
of  cattle.  They  use  copper  or  copper  coin  or  bars  of 
iron,  carefully  made  to  a  certain  weight,  as  money. 
Tin  is  found  in  the  inland  parts  ;  iron  near  the  coast, 
but  the  quantity  of  this  is  but  small.  They  have 
timber  of  all  the  kinds  found  in  Gaul  except  the  fir 
and  the  beech.  They  hold  ir  unlawful  to  eat  hare, 
chicken,  or  goose.  Still  they  rear  these  animals  for 
the  sake  of  amusement.  ...  Of  all  the  Britons  those 
that  inhabit  Kent  are  by  far  the  most  civilized  (Kent 
is  a  wholly  maritime  region).  These,  indeed,  differ 
but  little  from  the  Gauls  in  habits  of  life.  Many  of 
the  inland  Britons  do  not  grow  corn,  but  live  on  milk 
and  flesh,  and  are  clothed  in  skins.  All  the  Britons 
stain  their  persons  with  a  dye  that  produces  a  blue 
colour.  This  gives  them  a  more  terrible  aspect  in 
battle.  They  wear  their  hair  long,  shaving  all  the  body 
except  the  head  and  upper  lip.  Ten  or  twelve  men 
have  their  wives  in  common  ;  brothers  very  commonly 
with  br(3thers,  and  parents  with  children.  The  off- 
spring of  each  wife  is  reckoned  to  belong  to  the 
husband  who  first  married  her." 

The  iron  found  "  near  the  sea-coast  "  probably  came 
from  the  iron  fields  of  Sussex,  which  were  worked 
down  to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when 


l:  •: 


NEOLITHIC   SPEAR-HEAD  OR   CELT. 

Found  near  Lheltiisfordy  Essex.     {Front  and  Side  View,) 
{^From  **  Transactions  of  the  Essex  Field  Club,^^) 


i 


t 


SHIELD   OF  THE   BRONZE  AGE. 

Found  in  a  turbary  called  Rhyd-y-gorse,  Aberystwith, 
{From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum,^ 


THE  DRUIDS.  J 

they  ceased  to  be  profitable,  owing  to  the  greater 
facilities  for  smelting  afforded  by  the  coal-fields  of 
the  midland  and  northern  counties.  The  tin  had  long 
been  worked  in  Cornwall,  and  exported  thence  to  the 
Continent.  The  Cassiterides,  or  Tin  Islands,  is  pro- 
bably a  name  given  by  people  unacquainted  with  the 
true  geography  of  Britain  to  this  region.  Tin  was 
exported  from  it  as  early  as  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  for 
Herodotus  (484-407)  speaks  of  the  "  Cassiterides  from 
which  tin  comes  to  us,"  though  he  disclaims  all  know- 
ledge of  them. 

That  the  Britons  were  governed  by  kings,  one  or 
other  of  whom,  from  time  to  time,  acquired  more  or 
less  authority  over  the  others,  we  may  learn  from 
Caesar.  The  same  writer  tells  that  they  had  a  power- 
ful priesthood,  which  bore  the  name  of  the  Druids. 
His  account  of  this  class  is  as  follows  : — 

"  They  are  concerned  with  religious  matters,  per- 
form sacrifices  offered  by  the  State  and  by  private 
individuals,  and  interpret  omens.  Many  of  the 
youth  resort  to  them  for  education,  and  they  are 
held  in  high  honour  by  the  Gauls.  They  have  the 
decision  in  nearly  all  the  disputes  that  arise  between 
States  and  individuals  ;  if  any  crime  has  been  com- 
mitted, if  any  person  has  been  killed,  if  there  is  any 
dispute  about  an  inheritance  or  a  boundary,  it  is  the 
Druids  who  give  judgment  ;  it  is  they  who  settle  the 
rewards  and  punishments.  Any  private  person  or 
any  tribe  refusing  to  abide  by  their  decision  is  ex- 
cluded from  the  sacrifice.  This  is  the  heaviest 
punishment  that  can  be  inflicted  ;  for  those  so  ex- 
cluded are  reckoned   to  belong  to  the  godless  and 


THE   DRUIDS. 


SUIKI.I)   OF  THE   1;R0XZE  AGE. 

Found  ill  (/  liirhary  calhd  l\hyd-y-!^orsc^  Afhrvshinth. 

{From  the  original  in  the  British  Mitscu/n.) 


they  ceased  to  be  profitable,  owinfr  to  the  greater 
facih'ties  for  smelting  afforded  by  the  coal-fields  of 
the  midland  and  northern  counties.  The  tin  had  long 
been  worked  in  Cornwall,  and  exported  thence  to  the 
Continent.  The  Cassiterides,  or  Tin  Islands,  is  pro- 
bably a  name  given  by  people  unacquainted  with  the 
true  geography  of  Britain  to  this  region.  Tin  was 
exported  from  it  as  early  as  the  fifth  century  B.C.,  for 
Herodotus  ^48^.-407)  speaks  of  the  "  Cassiterides  from 
which  tin  comes  to  us,"  though  he  disclaims  all  know- 
ledge of  them. 

That  the  Britons  were  governed  by  kings,  one  or 
other  of  whom,  from  time  to  time,  acquired  more  or 
less  authority  over  the  others,  we  may  learn  from 
Ccxsar.  The  same  writer  tells  that  they  had  a  power- 
ful priesthood,  which  bore  the  name  of  the  Druids. 
His  account  of  this  class  is  as  follows  : — 

*'  They  are  concerned  with  religious  matters,  per- 
form sacrifices  offered  by  the  State  and  by  private 
individuals,  and  interpret  omens.  Alany  of  the 
youth  resort  to  them  for  education,  and  they  are 
held  in  high  honour  by  the  Gauls.  They  have  the 
decision  in  nearly  all  the  disputes  that  arise  between 
States  and  individuals  ;  if  any  crime  has  been  com- 
mitted, if  any  person  has  been  killed,  if  there  is  any 
dispute  about  an  inheritance  or  a  boundary,  it  is  the 
Druids  who  givo.  judgment  ;  it  is  they  who  settle  the 
rewards  and  punishments.  Any  private  person  or 
any  tribe  refusing  to  abide  by  their  decision  is  ex- 
cluded from  the  sacrifice.  This  is  the  heaviest 
punishment  that  can  be  inflicted  ;  for  those  so  ex- 
cluded are  reckoned    to  belong  to  the  godless  and 


3f^ 


j|W?*wr— • 


^(^ 


I^Pt^S   OF   THE  DRUIDS.  g 

wicked.     All  persons  leave  their  company,  avoid  their 
presence  and  speech,  lest  they  should  be  involved  in 
some  of  the  ill-consequences  of  their  situation.     They 
can  get  no  redress  for  injury,  and  they  are  ineligible 
to  any  post  of  honour.     The  Druids  have  a  president, 
who  exercises  supreme  authority  among  them.     On 
his  death  the  next  highest  to  him  in  rank  succeeds. 
If  there  are  several  who  are  equal,  one  is  chosen  by  a 
general  vote.     Sometimes  there  is  a  conflict  about  the 
succession.  .  .  .  The  system  of  the  Druids  is  supposed 
to  have  been  invented  in  Britain,  and  to  have  been 
introduced  from  that  country  into  Gaul.     To  this  day 
those    who   are   anxious   to  make    themselves   m.ore 
completely  acquainted    with    it    frequently  visit    the 
island  for  the  purpose  of  study.     The  Druids  do  not 
serve  in  a  campaign,  and  do  not  pay  taxes  along  with 
their  fellow-countrymen.     They  are  exempted  from 
all  civil  duties  as  well  as  from  military  service.     Privi- 
leges so  great   induce    many   to    submit  themselves 
voluntarily  to  this  education  ;  many  others  are  sent 
by  their  parents  and  kinsfolk.     These  pupils  are  said 
to  learn  by  heart  a  vast  number  of  verses.     Some,  in 
consequence,  remain  under  teaching  for  as  many  as 
twenty  years.     The  Druids  think  it  unlawful  to  com- 
mit this  knowledge  of  theirs  to  writing  (in  secular 
matters  and  in  public  and  private  business  they  use 
Greek  characters).    This  is  a  practice  which  they  have, 
I  think,  adopted  for  two  reasons.     They  do  not  wish 
that  their  system  should  become  commonly  known, 
or  that  their  pupils,  trusting  in  written   documents, 
should  less  carefully  cultivate  their  memory;    and^ 
indeed,  it  does  generally  happen  that  those  who  rely 


4 


r  • 


"^ 

p 

O 


111 


I^irs   OF   THE   DRUIDS,  g 

wicked.     All  persons  leave  their  company,  avoid  their 
presence  and  speech,  lest  they  should  be  involved  in 
some  of  the  ill-consequences  of  their  situation.     They 
can  get  no  redress  for  injury,  and  they  are  ineligible 
to  any  post  of  honour.     The  Druids  have  a  president, 
who  exercises  supreme  authority  among  them.     On 
his  death  the  next  highest  to  him  in  rank  succeeds. 
If  there  are  several  who  are  equal,  one  is  chosen  by  a 
general  vote.     Sometimes  there  is  a  conflict  about  the 
succession.  .  .  .  The  system  of  the  Druids  is  supposed 
to  have  been  invented  in  Britain,  and  to  have  been 
introduced  from  that  country  into  Gaul.     To  this  day 
those    who   are    anxious    to  make    themselves   m.ore 
completely   acquainted    with    it    frequently  visit    the 
island  for  the  purpose  of  study.      The  Druids  do  not 
serve  in  a  campaign,  and  do  not  pay  taxes  along  with 
their   fellow-countrymen.     They  are  exempted  from 
all  civil  duties  as  well  as  from  military  service.     Privi- 
leges so  great    induce    many   to    submit   themselves 
voluntarily  to  this  education  ;  many  others  are  sent 
by  their  parents  and  kinsfolk.     These  pupils  are  said 
to  learn  by  heart  a  vast  number  of  verses.     Some,  in 
consequence,  remain  under  teaching  for  as  many  as 
twenty  years.     The  Druids  think  it  unlawful  to  com- 
mit  this  knowledge  of   theirs  to  writing   (in  secular 
matters  and  in  public  and  private  business  they  use 
Greek  characters).    This  is  a  practice  which  they  have, 
I  think,  adopted  for  two  reasons.     They  do  not  wish 
that  their  system  should  become  commonly  known, 
or  that   their  pupils,  trusting   in  written   documents, 
should  less  carefully  cultivate  their  memory ;    and 
indeed,  it  does  generally  happen  that  those  who  rely 


i-< 


rJ^Sev^-atAaLSiKaiato,  a 


I 


lO 


BRITAIN  BEFORE    THE   ROMANS, 


on  written  documents  are  less  industrious  in  learning 
by  heart,  and  have  a  weaker  memory.  The  Druids' 
chief  doctrine  is  that  the  soul  of  man  does  not  perish, 
but  passes  after  death  from  one  person  to  another. 
They  hold  that  this  is  the  best  of  all  incitements  to 
courage  as  banishing  the  fear  of  death.  They  have 
much  also  to  say  about  the  stars  and  their  motions, 
about  the  magnitude  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
about  the  constitution  of  nature,  about  the  power  and 
authority  of  the  immortal  gods.  And  this  they  com- 
municate to  their  pupils." 

It  does  not  seem  likely  that  the  Druidical  system 
really  came  from  Britain  into  Gaul,  if  it  is  the  fact 
that  the  Celtic  inhabitants  of  the  island  came  from 
the  mainland.  It  has  been  suggested  ^  that  in  Caesar's 
time  the  Druid  power  had  become  weakened  in  Gaul, 
where  the  system  of  civil  government  was  superseding 
that  of  the  priests,  but  that  in  Britain,  as  being  a  less 
civiHzed  country,  it  still  retained  its  old  predominance. 
The  stone  circles,  of  which  Stonchenge  is  the  most 
famous  and  perfect  example,  but  which  are  found 
scattered  over  Great  Britain  and  North-western 
France,  are  commonly  supposed  to  have  been  seats 
of  Druid  worship.  The  word  Druid  is  generally 
referred  to  the  Greek  word  for  an  oak  (Spu?) 

'  By  Mr.  C.  Long  in  his  edition  of  Coesar,  *'  De  Bello  Gallico." 


lO 


BRITAIX   BEFORE    THE    ROMAXS, 


on  written  documents  are  less  industrious  in  learning 
by  heart,  and  have  a  weaker  memory.  The  Druids' 
chief  doctrine  is  that  the  soul  of  man  docs  not  perish, 
but  passes  after  death  from  one  person  to  another. 
They  hold  that  this  is  the  best  of  all  incitements  to 
courage  as  banishing  the  fear  of  death.  They  have 
much  also  to  say  about  the  stars  and  their  motions, 
about  the  magnitude  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
about  the  constitution  of  nature,  about  the  power  and 
authority  of  the  immortal  gods.  And  this  they  com- 
municate to  their  pupils." 

It  does  not  seem  likely  that  the  Druidical  system 
reall\  came  from  Britain  into  Gaul,  if  it  is  the  fact 
that  the  Celtic  inhabitants  of  the  island  came  from 
the  mainland.  It  has  been  suggested  ^  that  in  Caesar's 
time  the  Uruid  power  had  become  weakened  in  Gaul, 
where  the  system  of  civil  government  was  superseding 
that  of  the  priests,  but  that  in  Britain,  as  being  a  less 
civilized  country,  it  still  retained  its  old  predominance. 
The  stone  circles,  of  which  Stonchenge  is  the  most 
famcHis  and  perfect  example,  but  which  are  found 
scattered  over  Great  l^ritain  and  North-western 
France,  are  commonl}-  supposed  to  have  been  seats 
of  Druid  worship.  The  word  Dniid  is  generally 
referred  to  the  Greek  word  for  an  oak  ,3/3U9) 

'  By  Mr.  C.  Lung  in  his  edition  of  Cicsar,  "  Dc  Ucllo  Gallico." 


narniiriyi  ilMitijuwe' 


r 


C^SAR   PREPARES   TO   CROSS. 


13 


II. 


CiESAR   IN   BRITAIN. 


In  the  year  55  B.C.  Caius  Julius  Caesar,  who  had  been 
appointed  four  years  before  to  a  five  years'  command 
in  Gaul,i  had  conquered  the  whole  of  that  country. 
The  conquest,  indeed,  was  not  as  complete  as  he 
seems  to  have  imagined.  Again  and  again  the  people 
rose  against  him,  and  five  years  more  of  fighting  were 
required  before  the  work  could  be  said  to  have  been 
thoroughly  done.  Still  towards  the  end  of  the 
campaigning  season  in  55  he  had  carried  his  arms  as 
far  as  the  Ocean  on  the  west,  the  Channel  on  the 
north,  and  the  Rhine  on  the  east.  He  had  even 
crossed  the  Rhine,  and  ravaged  the  territory  of  certain 
German  tribes  beyond  it.  Then,  after  the  manner  of 
conquerors,  he  looked  about  for  fresh  enterprises  in 
which  to  employ  his  troops,  and  it  occurred  to  him 
to  invade  the  neighbouring  island  of  Britain.     One  of 

^  This  command  was  voted,  as  the  result  of  a  political  compact,  in 
59.  In  the  following  year  Caesar  left  Rome  for  his  province,  which 
included  lUyricum  and  the  two  divisions  of  Gaul  (south  and  north  of 
the  Alps).  Illyiicum  and  Cisalpine  Gaul  were  already  Roman 
provinces,  as  was  also,  in  Transalpine  Gaul,  the  region  known  as  the 
Provincia^  South-eastern  France,  reaching  northwards  as  far  as  the 
Cevennes,  and  westward  to  the  Upper  Garonne. 


W 


I 


\ 


f 


f 

i 

Si 


his  reasons,  as  he  states  it  himself  in  his  Commen- 
taries {i,e,.  Notes  on  his  Campaigns),  was  that  he  had 
found  that  the  natives  of  Britain  were  in  the  habit  of 
assisting  the  Gaul  in  their  resistance  to  his  armies. 
It  may,  however,  be  doubted  whether  this  considera- 
tion weighed  much  with  him.  With  the  Channel  com- 
manded, as  it  was,  by  Roman  fleets,  the  Britons  could 
have  given  but  very  little  help  to  their  neighbours 
across  the  sea.  The  summer  was  nearly  over,  but  he 
thought  that  there  would  be  time  for  what  may  be 
called  a  reconnaissance  in  force.  Information  about 
the  island,  its  population,  harbours,  &c.,  which  he  had 
hitherto  tried  in  vain  to  get,  might  thus  be  acquired, 
and  would  be  useful  in  case  he  should  see  fit  to  make 
afterwards  a  more  regular  expedition.  His  first  step 
was  to  send  one  Volusenus  to  reconnoitre  the  country. 
While  he  was  awaiting  his  return,  envoys  arrived 
from  several  of  the  British  tribes  offering  submission. 
He  received  them  courteously,  encouraged  them  to 
persevere  in  their  good  resolutions,  and  sent  them 
back,  in  company  with  one  Commius,  a  friendly  Gaul, 
with  the  message  that  he  should  soon  come  in  person 
to  receive  the  submission  of  their  countrymen.  In 
four  days'  time  Volusenus  came  back,  having  learnt, 
as  Caesar  sarcastically  remarks,  as  much  as  was 
possible  for  one  who  had  never  ventured  to  leave  his 
ship.  Meanwhile  Caesar  had  been  busy  preparing  the 
means  of  transport.  Eighty  merchant  ships  were 
collected.  These,  with  such  ships  of  war  as  he  had 
at  command,  would,  he  judged,  be  sufficient  to  carry 
across  his  army.  But  he  had  also  eighteen  other 
vessels,  which  were  set  apart  for  the  transport  of  the 


■*ay-tfa«3aL^i''«"fefl^Jg»s^^ 


i.-aft    **.af*H^   i^t.  f 


nS\>m  «^fl~J     ..  i>LjMVrf  J*— <'^  -rfr       *^lA■i    '     *f  *tt.'w 


.  itu..i..i«iftfi'i.< 


H 


CJESAR   IN  BRITAIN. 


cavalry.      The  force  which  he  proposed  to  employ 
consisted  of  two  legions. 

He  set  sail  on  the  27th  of  August,  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  At  ten  o'clock  he  sighted 
land,  probably  somewhere  near  Dover.  The  coast,  he 
observed,  was  lined  with  armed  forces  of  natives,  and 
the  "  hills  "  (by  which,  doubtless,  he  means  cliffs)  were 
so  near  to  the  sea,  that  a  javelin  could  easily  be 
thrown  from  them  on  to  the  shore.  The  place  therefore 
seemed  unsuitable  for  landing.  Accordingly  he  cast 
anchor,  and  waited  till  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
for  the  rest  of  the  fleet  to  come  up.  Meanwhile  the 
higher  officers  were  summoned  to  meet  on  his  ship, 
and  received  instructions  for  their  conduct  of  the 
landing  of  the  troops.  When  all  stragglers  had  come 
up,  he  gave  the  signal  to  weigh  anchor,  and  having 
wind  and  tide  in  his  favour,  moved  seven  miles  north- 
ward, probably  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Deal,  where 
the  shore  was  level. 

As  soon  as  the  Roman  ships  began  to  move,  the 
Britons  followed  them  along  the  coast,  the  cavalry 
and  chariots  galloping  on  in  advance.  The  landing 
was  not  effected  without  great  difficulty.  The  ships 
drew  so  much  water  that  they  could  not  come  very 
near  to  the  land,  and  the  soldiers,  heavily  weighted 
as  they  were  with  their  arms  and  armour,  had  to  jump 
off  into  deep  water,  get  what  footing  they  could 
among  the  breakers,  and  so  make  their  way  to  land. 
The  enemy,  on  the  other  hand,  either  standing  on 
dry  ground,  or  advancing  a  little  way  into  the  water, 
harassed  them  with  showers  of  missiles.  It  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that,  under  these  circumstances,  the 


)i  I  ■"tymuMifm 


1 

I 


H 


CMSAR   IN   BRITAIN, 


cavalry.      The  force  which  he  proposed  to  employ 
consisted  of  two  legions. 

He  set  sail  on  the  27th  of  August,  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  At  ten  o'clock  he  sighted 
land,  probably  somewhere  near  Dover.  The  coast,  he 
observed,  was  lined  with  armed  forces  of  natives,  and 
the  "  hills  "  (by  which,  doubtless,  he  means  cliffs)  were 
so  near  to  the  sea,  that  a  javelin  could  easily  be 
thrown  from  them  on  to  the  shore.  The  place  therefore 
seemed  unsuitable  for  landing.  Accordingly  he  cast 
anchor,  and  waited  till  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
for  the  rest  of  the  fleet  to  come  up.  Meanwhile  the 
higher  officers  were  summoned  to  meet  on  his  ship, 
and  received  instructions  for  their  conduct  of  the 
landing  of  the  troops.  When  all  stragglers  had  come 
up,  he  gave  the  signal  to  weigh  anchor,  and  having 
wind  and  tide  in  his  favour,  moved  seven  miles  north- 
ward, probably  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Deal,  where 
the  shore  was  level. 

As  soon  as  the  Roman  ships  began  to  move,  the 
Britons  followed  them  along  the  coast,  the  cavalry 
and  chariots  galloping  on  in  advance.  The  landing 
was  not  effected  without  great  difficulty.  The  ships 
drew  so  much  water  that  they  could  not  come  very 
near  to  the  land,  and  the  soldiers,  heavily  weighted 
as  they  were  with  their  arms  and  armour,  had  to  jump 
off  into  deep  water,  get  what  footing  they  could 
among  the  breakers,  and  so  make  their  way  to  land. 
The  enemy,  on  the  other  hand,  either  standing  on 
dry  ground,  or  advancing  a  little  way  into  the  water, 
harassed  them  with  showers  of  missiles.  It  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that,  under  these  circumstances,  the 


i6 


C^SAR  IN  BRITAIN. 


DEFEAT  OF  THE  BRITONS. 


17 


1 


Roman  legionaries  did  not  show  quite  as  much 
alacrity  and  "  dash  "  as  they  were  accustomed  to  dis- 
play in  battles  on  land.  Their  general  did  what  he 
could  to  help  and  encourage  them.  He  detached  the 
ships  of  war  from  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  and  used  them 
to  make  a  diversion  on  the  flank  of  the  enemy.  Their 
decks  were  manned  with  slingers  and  archers,  and 
there  were  also  catapults  of  the  light,  movable  kind. 
A  sharp  fire  was  kept  up  on  the  Britons,  who  began 
to  retreat  out  of  range,  and  left  clear  the  approach 
to  the  shore.  Still  the  difficulty  of  the  deep  water 
remained.  While  the  soldiers  were  hesitating  to 
jump,  the  officer  who  carried  the  eagle  of  the  tenth 
legion  set  them  the  example.  After  a  brief  prayer 
that  his  act  might  turn  out  well  for  the  legion,  he 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Leap  down,  men,  unless 
you  wish  to  betray  your  eagle  to  the  enemy ;  I  shall 
certainly  have  done  my  duty  to  my  country  and  my 
general."  The  same  moment  he  leapt  boldly  into  the 
water,  and  began  to  struggle  shorewards,  holding  the 
eagle  in  his  hands.  The  soldiers  in  his  ship  to  a  man 
followed  his  example,  and  these  again  were  backed 
up  by  the  rest  of  the  army. 

Still  there  was  a  fierce  struggle  before  a  landing 
could  be  effected.  The  Romans  could  scarcely  find 
a  footing.  As  for  keeping  their  ranks  or  following 
their  standards,  it  was  impossible.  The  enemy,  on 
the  other  hand,  who  not  only  had  the  stronger  posi- 
tion, but  also  knew  the  ground  thoroughly,  attacked 
them  with  every  advantage  on  their  side.  Neverthe- 
less their  resistance  was  ineffectual.  Caisar  manned 
the  boats  belonging  to  the  ships  of  war,  and  sent  them 


to  give  help  at  any  spot  where  he  observed  his  troops 
in  danger  of  being  overpowered.  When  once  dry 
land  was  gained,  the  day,  of  course,  was  won.  In- 
deed, the  Britons  at  once  took  to  flight,  and  Caesar 
laments  that  for  lack  of  cavalry  he  could  not  pursue 
them.  "  This  was  the  one  thing,"  he  says,  speaking, 
according  to  custom,  in  the  third  person,  "  that  was 
wanting  to  Caesar's  old  good  fortune." 

In  the  course  of  a  day  or  two  the  Britons  sent 
envoys  to  negotiate  for  peace,  and  with  the  envoys 
came  Commius  the  Gaul.  He  had  been  roughly 
treated  and  imprisoned,  and  had  not  been  released 
till  after  the  Roman  victory.  The  envoys  threw  the 
blame  of  this  violation  of  law  upon  the  common 
people,  whom  they  sought  to  excuse  by  pleading  their 
ignorance.  Caesar  professed  himself  ready  to  over- 
look the  offence,  while  he  demanded  hostages  for 
their  good  behaviour  in  the  future.  Some  of  these 
were  at  once  handed  over  to  him  ;  the  rest,  it  was 
explained,  belonged  to  distant  parts  of  the  country, 
and  a  few  days  must  pass  before  they  could  be 
brought. 

On  the  30th  of  August  the  ships  with  the  cavalry 
on  board  hove  in  sight.  But  when  they  were  within 
a  short  distance  of  the  shore,  the  weather  suddenly 
changed.  Some  were  driven  back  to  the  port  from 
which  they  had  sailed,  others  were  carried  along  the 
coast  for  some  distance  to  the  westward.  Here  they 
attempted  to  anchor,  but  the  sea  was  too  rough,  and 
they  were  compelled  to  return  to  Gaul. 

The  same  night  another  disaster  happened  to  the 
expedition.     It  was  the  time  of  the  full  moon,  and, 


i8 


C^SAR   IN  BRITAIN. 


STRATAGEM  OF    THE  BRITONS. 


19 


I 


consequently,  of  the  spring  tides.  About  spring  and 
neap  tides,  the  Romans,  accustomed  to  their  own 
tideless  sea,  knew  nothing,  and  they  had  made  no 
preparations.  The  ships  of  war,  which  had  been 
drawn  up  on  land,  were  filled  with  water;  the 
merchant  ships,  which  were  at  anchor,  probably  with- 
out the  necessary  length  of  cable,  were  greatly 
damaged  by  the  unexpected  rise  of  the  tide,  ac- 
companied, as  it  seems  to  have  been,  by  some  rough 
weather.  Many  were  wrecked,  the  rest  lost  much  of 
their  tackling,  and,  for  the  present,  were  rendered 
useless.  There  was,  of  course,  great  consternation  in 
the  camp.  There  were  no  means,  it  seemed,  of 
getting  back  to  the  continent,  while  no  provision  had 
been  made  for  a  stay. 

The  Britons  were  quite  as  much  alive  to  the  im- 
portance of  what  had  happened  as  the  Romans 
themselves.  Without  ships,  without  cavalry,  and 
without  corn,  the  enemy,  they  thought,  were  helpless. 
They  had  had  time  also  to  estimate  their  force  from 
the  dimensions  of  the  camp.  It  could  not,  they 
knew,  be  very  large,  and  as  the  troops  had  been 
brought  over  with  but  little  baggage,  and  so  could 
be  packed  closely  together,  they  believed  it  to  be 
smaller  than  it  really  was.  The  hope  sprang  up  that 
they  might  be  able  to  destroy  the  invading  army 
altogether.  To  inflict  such  a  blow,  they  imagined, 
would  be  to  prevent  another  invasion  of  the  island  for 
many  years  to  come.  Accordingly,  the  chiefs  who 
had  assembled  at  the  camp  found  pretexts  for  leaving 
it,  while  fresh  forces  were  brought  down  from  the 
interior  to  the  coast 


Caesar,  though  without  positive  knowledge  of  what 
was  on  foot,  had  his  suspicions.  The  disaster  to  the 
ships  would,  he  knew,  raise  the  hopes  of  the  Britons, 
and  he  found,  at  the  same  time,  that  no  more  hostages 
were  brought  into  the  camp.  He  lost  no  time  in 
preparing  for  the  two  contingencies  of  retreat,  and 
wintering  in  the  island.  Twelve  of  the  ships  that 
had  suffered  most  damage  were  broken  up,  and  the 
others  were  repaired  with  the  metal  and  timber  that 
were  thus  made  available.  The  soldiers  worked  with 
so  good  a  will  that  in  a  few  days  a  sufficiently 
serviceable  fleet  was  ready. 

Meanwhile  the  work  of  provisioning  the  camp  had 
been  busily  carried  on,  and,  as  yet,  without  hind- 
rance. Everything  indeed  looked  peaceful.  The 
population  was  at  work  as  usual  in  the  fields,  and 
visitors  went  in  and  out  of  the  camp.  But  one  day, 
when  one  of  the  two  legions  had,  according  to  custom, 
gone  out  to  collect  corn,  Caesar  was  informed  by  the 
pickets  that  an  unusually  large  cloud  of  dust  could  be 
seen  in  the  direction  which  the  legion  had  taken.  He 
at  once  guessed  what  had  happened,  and  taking  with 
him  the  cohorts  on  guard,  while  he  ordered  all  the 
other  available  troops  to  follow,  hastened  to  the 
relief  of  the  foragers.  He  found  them  beset  by  the 
enemy,  and  in  no  small  danger.  The  Britons  had 
guessed  what  direction  the  foraging  party  would 
take.  Only  one  spot  remained  where  the  corn  had 
not  been  reaped,  and  it  was  in  the  woods  that  ad- 
joined this  that  they  laid  their  ambuscade.  The 
Romans,  suspecting  no  danger,  had  piled  their  arms, 
and  set  about  the  work  of  reaping,  though  of  course 


20 


C^SAR   IN  BRITAIN. 


a  part  of  the  legion  remained  on  guard.  The  Britons 
attacked  the  reapers,  and  killed  some  of  them.  When 
Caesar  came  up  the  legion  had  formed  itself  into  a 
solid  square.  This  was  surrounded  by  cavalry  and 
chariots  and  exposed  to  a  continuous  discharge  of 
missiles.  The  arrival  of  the  relieving  force  put  an 
end  to  the  attack,  and  Caesar  did  not  think  it 
advisable  to  assume  the  offensive.  The  two  legions 
returned  to  the  camp  without  having  suffered  any 
very  serious  loss. 

A  continuance  of  bad  weather  for  several  days 
prevented  the  Romans  from  leaving,  and  the  Britons 
from  attacking  the  camp.  The  latter,  however,  were 
not  idle.  They  sent  messengers  throughout  the  neigh- 
bouring districts,  describing  the  weakness  of  the 
invaders,  the  magnitude  of  the  booty  to  be  got  from 
them,  and  the  advantage  of  striking  such  a  blow  as 
would  secure  for  ever  the  freedom  of  the  island.  A 
large  force  of  cavalry  and  infantry  was  thus  collected. 
Caesar,  meanwhile,  had  received  a  reinforcement  of 
thirty  cavalry,  which  Commius  the  Gaul  brought  with 
him  from  the  continent.  Knowing  how  useful  these 
would  be  in  pursuit,  he  resolved  to  give  battle,  and 
drew  up  his  legion  in  front  of  the  camp.  An  engage- 
ment followed,  but  the  Britons,  of  course,  could  not 
stand  up  against  the  discipline  and  arms  of  the 
invaders.  The  victors  pursued  the  fugitives  till  their 
strength  was  exhausted,  and,  after  burning  all  the 
dwellings  in  the  neighbourhood,  returned  to  the 
camp. 

The  very  same  day  envoys  appeared  asking  for 
peace,  and  this   Caesar  was  ready  enough  to  grant. 


CJESAR   SETS   SAIL   FOR   GAUL, 


21 


He  contented  himself  with  doubling  his  aemand  for 
hostages.  He  did  not,  however,  intend  to  wait  till 
they  should  be  brought  into  the  camp,  but  directed 
that  they  should  be  sent  after  him  to  the  mainland. 
He  was,  in  fact,  in  a  great  hurry  to  go.  The  equinox 
was  near,  the  weather  could  not  be  trusted,  and  his 
ships,  hastily  patched  up  as  they  had  been,  were 
scarcely  seaworthy.  Starting  at  midnight,  possibly 
on  the  very  day  of  the  battle,  he  had  the  good 
fortune  to  make  the  passage  without  encountering 
any  mishap.  The  expedition  probably  occupied 
about  three  weeks,  having  been  begun  on  the  27th  of 
August,  and  brought  to  an  end  some  time  before  the 
24th  of  September.  Caesar's  narrative  seems  to  be 
somewhat  exaggerated.  There  could  not  have  been 
time  for  the  gathering  of  the  great  hosts  of  natives 
which  he  describes.  It  is  probable  that  it  was  only  a 
small  region  in  South-eastern  Britain  that  concerned 
itself  about  his  coming.  The  expedition,  too,  was 
certainly  not  a  success.  As  has  been  said,  he  was 
three  weeks  in  the  island,  and  never  advanced  as  much 
as  a  mile  from  the  shore. 


JSwaiat^iawi  BJ«ajte«jif6c»  /JjAlk  .litit Jia»r .-     ■  i».  s,  »■  ^.av.  1  -a-..' '  -  ■ 


>CVSr*  h^*■^■^H^    .<X^.**«     -A-   ' 


w  if  Ta.'i.ilMa.'Omfcjto'i  •gaj;a-iii.-ii» 


III. 


C^SAR    IN    BRITAIN. 
{SECOND  EXPEDITION.) 

CiESAR's  first  invasion  of  Britain  was,  as  has  been 
said,  a  mere  reconnaissance ;  the  second  may  be 
described  as  a  serious  efifoit  at  conquest.  Great 
preparations  were  made  during  the  winter.  Old  ships 
were  repaired,  and  new  ones  built,  the  latter  being 
specially  adapted  for  the  transport  of  cargo  and 
horses.  The  rendez-vous  for  the  fleet  was  the  Partus 
Itiiis?  Some  delay  was  caused  by  the  necessity  of 
chastising  some  tribes  which  had  showed  a  disposition 
to  rebel ;  and  when  these  operations  were  concluded  a 
contrary  wind,  blowing  from  the  north-west  without 
any  intermission  for  five-and-twenty  day,  prevented 
the  departure  of  the  fleet.  Even  at  the  last  moment 
the  flight  of  an  important  hostage  from  the  camp 
caused  the  start  to  be  postponed. ^  It  was  not  till 
July  20th  that  Caesar  set  sail.  He  iiad  more  than  six 
hundred  ships,  and  these  carried  five  legions,  number- 

'  Probably  Issant,  near  Boulogne  ;  possibly  Boulogne  itself. 

*  It  is  worth  while  to  mention,  as  showing  Coesar's  uneasiness  alxDut 
the  temper  of  Gaul,  that  he  took  a  great  number  of  hostages  with  him 
to  Britain. 


THE  SECOND  LANDING. 


23 


ing,  it  may  be  reckoned,  with  auxiliaries,  about  thirty 
thousand  effective  troops,  and  two  thousand  cavalry. 
The  fleet  weighed  anchor  at  sunset  (which  on  July 
20th  would  be  about  eight  o'clock).  A  light  wind 
was  blowing  from  the  south-west,  the  tide,  which  was 
ebbing,  was  running  in  the  opposite  direction.  At 
midnight  the  wind  dropped,  and  the  tide  began  to 
flow,  carrying  the  fleet  to  the  north-east.  At  dawn, 
which  would  be  about  three  hours  after  midnight, 
Britain  was  seen  on  the  left  hand  lying  to  the  west- 
ward. The  fleet  had  drifted  past  the  North  Foreland. 
The  oars  were  then  got  out,  and,  the  tide  turning 
again,  the  ships  made  for  the  point  where  the  landing 
had  been  effected  the  year  before.  The  soldiers  on 
board  the  transports  worked,  we  are  told,  so  hard  that 
their  heavy  vessels  kept  up  with  the  ships  of  war.  No 
attempt  was  made  by  the  natives  to  oppose  a  landing. 
They  seem  to  have  been  overawed  by  the  formidable 
appearance  of  the  fleet,  which  had  been  increased  by 
the  craft  belonging  to  private  owners  to  more  than 
eight  hundred. 

Caesar  lost  no  time  in  commencing  operations. 
Without  even  staying  to  construct  a  camp  he  marched 
with  the  bulk  of  his  army  against  the  fortified  position 
of  the  enemy.  This  was  about  twelve  miles'  distant 
on  the  banks  of  the  Stour,  and  is  described  as  having 
been  strongly  situated,  and  well  constructed  of  earth- 
works and  timber.  The  Romans,  however,  had  little 
difficulty  in  taking  it.  The  method  of  attack  was 
that  known  as  the  "  tortoise  "  {testudo),  and  has  been 
thus  described  : 

*'  The  men  in  each  file  stood  close  together,  but  with 


taalMj.  ijMt^^^iwAiM^ 


24 


C^SAR   IN  BRITAIN, 


BRITISH   VALOUR, 


25 


a  Space  of  about  three  feet  between  the  files;  excepting, 
of  course,  in  the  front  rank,  where  the  formation  would 
be  solid.  This  first  rank  held  their  shields  in  front 
of  them.  The  other  shields  were  held  overhead,  the 
length  at  right  angles  to  the  file.  Thus  between  each 
two  files  a  protected  space,  three  feet  wide,  was  left, 
through  which  the  workmen  could  carry  bush  and 
faggot.  This  being  rapidly  piled,  the  soldiers  kept 
mounting,  stepping  alternately  to  right  and  left,  as 
the  clear  space  was  filled,  and  the  place  where  they 
were  standing  was  needed.  Thus  in  a  short  time  the 
Ustudo  was  formed,  and  the  ditch  was  filled  up.  Then 
a  rush  drove  the  enemy  easily  from  their  works,  and 
the  position  was  taken."  ^ 

Csesar  did  not  permit  any  pursuit  to  be  made,  as 
he  wished  to  fortify  his  camp  without  any  further 

delay. 

The  next  day  he  sent  three  columns  in  pursuit  of 
the  enemy.  These  had  just  come  in  sight  of  the 
Britons  when  news  arrived  from  the  officer  in  com- 
mand of  the  fleet  that  great  damage  had  been  inflicted 
by  a  storm  the  night  before.  Caesar  at  once  recalled 
his  troops,  and  set  the  men  to  work  repairing  the 
ships.  Ultimately  these  were  drawn  up  on  shore  and 
defended  by  the  same  fortifications  which  protected 
the  camp.  These  works  were  laborious,  and  occupied 
as  much  as  ten  days.  When  they  were  completed 
Caesar  returned  to  the  point  from  which  he  had  been 
recalled  by  the  bad  news  about  the  fleet.  Meanwhile 
a  large  force  of  Britons  had  assembled,  under  the 
command    of    Caswallon    (called    Cassivelaunus    by 

»  Messrs.  Allen  and  Greenough's  *'  Caesar,"  note  in  loc. 


I 


f 


■1 


% 


A 


Caesar),  an  inland  prince,  whom  the  tribes  by  com- 
mon consent  had  made  general-in-chief  The  chariots 
and  cavalry  attacked  the  Roman  horse,  and,  though 
finally  repulsed,  inflicted  severe  loss.  A  second  attack, 
this  time  made  upon  the  cohorts  which  were  protect- 
ing the  fortifications  of  the  camp,  was  for  a  time  suc- 
cessful. The  Britons  broke  through  the  Roman  line, 
held  their  own  against  two  cohorts,  both  composed 
of  first-rate  troops,  which  were  sent  as  a  reinforce- 
ment, and  were  compelled  to  retreat  only  by  the 
arrival  of  a  much  larger  force.  They  were  found, 
indeed,  to  be  formidable  enemies.  The  legionaries, 
with  their  heavy  armour,  were  baffled  by  the  quick- 
ness of  their  movements,  and  the  cavalry  were  per- 
plexed by  the  ease  with  which  their  horsemen 
changed  their  tactics,  showing  themselves  equally 
at  home  whether  they  were  mounted  or  on  foot. 
Their  numbers,  too,  seemed  inexhaustible,  and  fresh 
fighters  were  already  ready  to  take  the  places  of  those 
that  were  weary  or  wounded. 

It  is  probable  that  the  success  with  which  they 
fought  made  them  so  confident  that  they  abandoned 
their  desultory  tactics  and  ventured  on  something 
like  a  pitched  battle.  Caesar  had  sent  out  a  strong 
force  the  next  day  to  forage.  The  Britons  attacked 
it,  and  ventured  to  engage  the  legions  themselves 
when  these  came  up  to  support  their  comrades.  The 
result  was  a  disastrous  defeat.  Many  of  the  native 
levies  were  disheartened  by  the  losses  sustained,  and 
dispersed.  In  fact,  the  Britons  never  could  bring 
their  whole  force  into  the  field  again. 

Caesar  now  marched  northward  to  attack  Caswallon 


^b^^;^££j^^ 


26 


CyESAR   IN  BRITAIN. 


in  his  own  territories.     To  do  this  it  was  necessary  to 
cross  the  Thames.     There  was  but  one  ford,  and  that 
deep  and  difficult.'     Caesar  found  that  the  opposite 
bank  was  held  by  a  large  force  of  natives,  besides 
being  fortified  by  rows  of  stakes,  one  of  which  was 
below  the  water.     It  was  his  intention  to  send  over 
his  cavalry  in  advance,  but  the  impetuosity  of  the 
infantry  was  such  that  they  dashed  into  the  river, 
made  their  way  across,  though  the  water  was  so  deep 
that  it  came   up   to   their    necks,    and    reached  the 
opposite  shore  as  soon  as  did    the  horsemen.     The 
Britons    could    not    resist    the   combined    attack    of 
cavalry  and  infantry,  but  abandoned  their  position, 

and  fled. 

Caswallon  had  now  learnt  by  experience  that  a 
pitched  battle  with  the  Romans  was  hopeless.  Ac- 
cordingly he  disbanded  the  bulk  of  his  forces  and, 
keeping  a  force  of  war  chariots  with  him,  watched  the 
march  of  the  enemy.  Everything  in  the  way  of  pro- 
perty was  removed  from  the  line  of  their  march.  All 
who  ventured  to  leave  the  main  body  for  the  sake  of 
picking  up  a  little  plunder  were  promptly  attacked, 
so  that  Csesar  had   to   issue   most  stringent  orders 


»  The  situation  of  this  ford  has  been  much  disputed.  Some  very 
ancient  stakes  have  been  found  in  the  river  near  Weybridge,  at  a  place 
called  from  them  *'  Coweay  Stakes."  But  these  are  at  right  angles  to 
the  bank,  and  rather  suggest  the  idea  of  a  bridge.  It  is  difficult,  now 
that  the  character  of  the  river  has  been  so  changed  by  the  locks  which 
make  it  navigable,  even  to  guess  at  the  place  where  the  ford  may  have 
been.  The  stream  between  Bray  and  Windsor  is,  or  certainly  wa>  some 
years  ago,  more  shallow  than  in  any  other  place  in  the  lower  river,  but 
it  has  been  deepened  here,  within  the  present  writer's  recollection,  by  the 
construction  of  an  additional  lock. 


THE 


''TOWN''  OF  CASWALLON. 


27 


against  all  straggling.  All  that  he  could  do  was  to 
inflict  as  much  damage  on  the  country  as  possible  by 
ravaging  and  burning  along  the  line  of  march. 

Disunion  and  jealousy  among  the  British  tribes 
now  began  to  help  the  invader.  Caswallon  in  former 
days  had  waged  many  wars  against  his  neighbours. 
He  had  put  to  death  the  king  of  the  Trinobantes 
(inhabiting  Essex  and  the  southern  part  of  Suffolk), 
and  driven  the  heir  to  the  throne  into  exile.  This 
tribe  now  sent  envoys  to  Caesar,  begging  for  the 
restoration  of  the  banished  prince,  and  offering  their 
submission.  The  young  man,  who  was  in  Caesar's 
camp,  was  immediately  sent  home,  and  the  tribe  was 
enjoined  to  furnish  forty  hostages  and  a  supply  of 
corn.     This  requisition  was  immediately  obeyed. 

The  example  of  the  Trinobantes,  whose  country 
was  now,  of  course,  protected  from  injury,  was  fol- 
lowed by  other  tribes.  From  some  of  their  envoys 
Caesar  learnt  that  the  "  town  "  of  Caswallon  was  not 
far  from  the  place  to  which  he  had  advanced  A 
"  town  "  in  the  British  language,  Caesar  explains,  was 
nothing  more  than  a  piece  of  forest  fortified  by  a 
rampart  and  ditch,  by  way  of  protection  for  them- 
selves and  their  cattle  against  sudden  attacks.  He  at 
once  marched  to  the  spot.^  He  found  that  the  posi- 
tion, besides  being  naturally  strong,  had  been  carefully 
fortified.  But  the  Britons  could  not  resist  the  assault 
which  was  promptly  delivered  on  two  sides  of  their 
fortress.  They  evacuated  the  place,  leaving  behind 
them  a  great  quantity  of  cattle. 

*  The  situation  of  this  "town"  is  doubtful.      St.  Albans  has  been 
suggested  as  a  possible  locality. 


^  \.l'  "*^    Tiia  JJlii.. j^nf^aft  .g*L  *-*rf 


PLAN    OF  CAMP   AT   AMBKEbBURY    BANKS,    EFPIiNG    FOREST. 


{^Supposed  British  Town.      From  "  Transactions  of  the  Essex 

Field  Club:') 


HOSTAGES  AND    YEARLY   TRIBUTE, 


2g 


Meanwhile  Caswallon  attempted  a  diversion  by- 
suggesting  to  the  chiefs  of  Cantium  (Kent)  an  attack 
on  the  camp  which  Caesar  had  constructed  by  the 
shore.  The  attack  was  made,  but  without  success, 
and  the  Britons  suffered  greatly  from  a  sally  of  the 
garrison. 

The  British  king  now  sent  envoys  to  treat  for 
peace,  using  the  good  offices  of  Commius  to  obtain 
a  hearing  from  Caesar.  The  Roman  general  was 
ready  enough  to  listen.  He  had  no  desire  to  stay  in 
the  island.  He  had  received  disquieting  news  from 
Gaul,  and  the  summer  was  fast  passing.  (It  was  now 
about  the  middle  of  September.)  He  was  well  aware 
that  the  Britons  might,  if  they  chose,  protract  the 
contest  in  a  very  inconvenient  way.  Accordingly  he 
demanded  a  number  of  hostages  (insisting,  this  time, 
on  their  bein^  put  into  his  hands  at  once),  fixed 
the  amount  of  yearly  tribute  which  was  to  be 
paid  to  Rome,  and  finally  enjoined  Caswallon  not 
to  attack  the  tribes  which  had  made  friends  with 
Rome. 

He  then  marched  back  to  the  coast.  There  he 
found  the  damaged  ships  repaired.  Some,  however, 
had  been  altogether  lost,  and,  as  he  had  a  great 
number  of  prisoners  with  him,  it  would  be  impossible, 
he  saw,  to  transport  the  whole  body  at  once.  A  part 
he  sent  over  immediately,  and  this  reached  Gaul  with- 
out any  mishap.  But  when  the  ships  were  returning 
empty  only  a  few  reached  their  destination.  Caesar, 
however,  would  not  wait.  He  crowded  his  troops  on 
board  such  vessels  as  he  had,  and  took  them  across 
without  losing  a  single  ship. 


B 


HOSTAGES  AND    YEARLY   TRIBUTE, 


29 


—  ■  -.--  ■>•... 


«v^  '    .-^ 


.^-     D   -. 


'.♦.-•ft— '  1^^'yr:.-^         \ 


PLAN    OF  CAMP   AT   AMBKESBURY    BANKS,    EPPING    FOREST. 

{Supposed  Brio's  A   Town.      From  **  Transactions  of  the  Essex 

Field  Club:') 


Meanwhile  Caswallon  attempted  a  diversion  by 
suggesting  to  the  chiefs  of  Cantium  (Kent)  an  attack 
on  the  camp  which  Csesar  had  constructed  by  the 
shore.  The  attack  was  made,  but  without  success, 
and  the  Britons  suffered  greatly  from  a  sally  of  the 
garrison. 

The  British  king  now  sent  envoys  to  treat  for 
peace,  using  the  good  offices  of  Commius  to  obtain 
a  hearing  from  Caesar.  The  Roman  general  was 
ready  enough  to  listen.  He  had  no  desire  to  stay  in 
the  island.  He  had  received  disquieting  news  from 
Gaul,  and  the  summer  was  fast  passing.  (It  was  now 
about  the  middle  of  September.)  He  was  well  aware 
that  the  Britons  might,  if  they  chose,  protract  the 
contest  in  a  very  inconvenient  way.  Accordingly  he 
demanded  a  number  of  hostages  (insisting,  this  time, 
on  their  beinj  put  into  his  hands  at  once),  fixed 
the  amount  ci  yearly  tribute  which  was  to  be 
paid  to  Rome,  and  finally  enjoined  Caswallon  not 
to  attack  the  tribes  which  had  made  friends  with 
Rome. 

He  then  marched  back  to  the  coast.  There  he 
found  the  damaged  ships  repaired.  Some,  however, 
had  been  altogether  lost,  and,  as  he  had  a  great 
number  of  prisoners  with  him,  it  would  be  impossible, 
he  saw,  to  transport  the  whole  body  at  once.  A  part 
he  sent  over  immediately,  and  this  reached  Gaul  with- 
out any  mishap.  But  when  the  ships  were  returning 
empty  only  a  few  reached  their  destination.  Caesar, 
however,  would  not  wait.  He  crowded  his  troops  on 
board  such  vessels  as  he  had,  and  took  them  across 
without  losing  a  single  ship. 


ii;ia.j?-ria»a>&ij«M><<ias?5aB..., 


,,,  CMSAR   IN  BRITAIN. 

This  marvellous  good  fortune-the  Channel  four 
times  crossed  by  large  armaments  in  perfect  safety- 
was  the  fitting  close  of  a  brilliant  exploit.  Still,  as 
Tacitus  says,  Caesar  pointed  out  the  country  to  those 
that  came  after  him,  rather  than  conquered  it 


€ 


IV. 


BRITAIN  AND   THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  C^SAR. 

We  maybe  sure  that  the  tribute  promised  by  King 
Caswallon  was  not  regularly  paid,  if  it  was  paid  at  all. 
Caesar  had  plenty  to  occupy  him  during  the  remainder 
of  his  stay  in  Gaul  in  consolidating  his  conquest  of 
that  country,  and,  after  he  had  left  it,  in  making  himself 
master  of  Rome.  Anyhow,  no  mention  of  Britain 
occurs  in  Roman  history  till  we  find  the  name  in  the 
M armor  Ancyranuin  ^  a  record  of  achievements  which 
Augustus  caused  to  be  executed  towards  the  end  of 
his  reign.  The  Marmor  is  unfortunately  imperfect, 
but  we  can  gather  from  it  that  certain  British  chiefs 
paid  tribute  to  Rome.  It  is  likely  enough  that  the 
Emperor,  after  he  found  himself  firmly  established 
on  the  throne,  would  claim  some  acknowledgment  of 
his  sovereignty,  and  that  the  British  chiefs  would  give 
it  rather  than  incur  the  risk  of  another  invasion.  We 
may  safely  reject  a  statement,  doubtfully  ascribed  to 
Livy,  that  Augustus  himself  landed  on  the  island  on 
the  strength  of  Suetonius's  positive  assertion  that  no 
Roman  had  ventured  thither  in  the  interval  (89  years) 
between  the  departure  of  Caesar  and  the  expedition  of 

'  A   tablet  found  at  Ancyra  (now  Angora)  the  Roman  capital  of 
Galatia. 


irrt-%MUi  iM«<i>&aWigS 


■•-j'Ai;.*-'  .i-.>j»j.  1- .-..-■»..'- -Aii5iijjif.]ii^.ia/-,ai-:>.„ 


32      BRITAIN  AND   THE   SUCCESSORS  OF  C^SAR. 

Claudius,  of  which  I  shall  soon  have  to  speak.^  The 
policy  of  Tiberius  was  to  contract  rather  than  to 
extend  the  limits  of  the  Empire,  and  during  his  reign 
no    attention    was    paid    to   a   country    so     remote.^ 

»  There  are  occasional  allusions  to  Britain  and  the  Britons  in  the 
Augustan  poets,  and  it  may  be  interesting  to  bring  them  together.  Virgd, 
in  his  first  Eclogue  (B.C.  40),  speaks  of  the  Britons,  **  utterly  divided  from 
the  rest  of  the  world,"  as  a  remote  tribe  which  his  exile  might  visit.  (Pro- 
fessor Conington,  however,  thinks  that  he  regards  them  as  "a  Roman 
province  to  which  settlers  might  conceivably  be  sent."     This,  however, 
is  very  doubtful.)      In  the  second  Georgic  (B.C.  36  ?)  they  are  men- 
tioned as  the  picturesque,  outlandish  figures  embroidered  on  the  curtain 
of  the  theatre.     In  Tibullus  (54-18  B.C.),  if  the  Panegyric  on  Messalla 
be  his,  we  hear  of  the  '*  Britons  not  yet  subdued  by  Roman  arms"  as 
future  objects  of  that  general's  valour.     In  Propertius  (51-15)  ^hey  are 
classed  with  the  Parthians  as  enemies  of  Rome.      Ovid  mentions  them 
with  epithets  connected  with  the  sea,  but  says  nothing   more.     The 
allusions  of  Horace  are  more  significant.     In  the  seventh  epode,  pro- 
bably one  of  the  earliest  of  his  poems,  and  attributed  to  the  year  40  B.C., 
we  hear  of  the  ''unsubdued  Briton,"  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
Parthians.     In  Odes  i.  21,  the  poet  prays  that  hunger  and  pestilence 
may  be  warded  ofiF  from  the  Roman  ruler  and  his  people,  and  sent 
to  "the  Parthians  and  Britons."     In  i.   35,   Augustus  is  "about   to 
march  against  the  far-off  Britons."      In  Odes  iii.   4,   they  appear  as 
"the  Britons  savage  to  strangers,"  whom  the  poet,  safe  in  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Muses,  is  to  visit.     But  in  the  next  ode  the  benignant  god- 
head  {praeseus  Divus)  of  Augustus,  is  said  to  be  proved  by  his  having 
added  "the  Britons  and  the  terrible  Parthians  to  the  Empire."     The 
exaggeration  seems   to   be   the  same   in   both  cases.     The  Parthians 
gave  back,  as  a  matter  of  policy  or  friendship,  the  spoils  which  they 
had  taken  at  the  defeat  of  Crassus.      This  arrangement   the  Roman 
poets  describe  by  such  phrases  as  "  tearing  down  the  Roman  standards 
from  the  Parthian  shrines."    Strabo,  who  lived  in  the  reign  of  Augustus 
and  Tiberius,  says  of  the  Britons  that  "some  of  their  princes  sought 
by  embassies    and    other  attentions    to    conciliate    the    friendship   of 
Augustus,   made  offerings   in  the  Capitol,  and  put  their  whole  island 
under  the    protection  of  Rome."      The  impression   gained  from   the 
whole  of  these  references  is  something  like  that  stated  in  the  text. 

*  The  single  reference  to  Britain  under  the  reign  of  this  prince  is  that 
the  chiefs  of  the  island  sent  back  to  Germanicus  some  of  the  ship- 
wrecked soldiers  (this  was  in  A.D.  16). 


Caligula^ s  whims. 


33 


Tiberius'  successor,  Caligula,  made  a  pretence  of  sub- 
duing the  island,  but  the  story  of  his  proceedings,  as  it 
is  told  by  Suetonius  and  Dio  Cassius,  is  so  ludicrous 
as  to  be  scarcely  credible.     It  runs  thus  : — 

Caligula,    who    was    unquestionably    a    madman, 
conceived   a   sudden    whim   of   making  a  campaign 
against  the  Germans.     While  he  was  in  camp  he  was 
visited  by  Adminius,  one  of  the  sons  of  the  British 
King  Cunobelin,!  who  had  been  exiled  by  his  father, 
and  who  hoped  to  be  restored  by  Roman  help.     Cali- 
gula at  once  sent  a  boastful  despatch  to  Rome,  declaring 
that  the  whole  island  had  been  surrendered  to  him. 
His  next  fancy  was  to  obtain  some  material  tokens  of 
his   conquest.      Accordingly  he  drew  up  his  army, 
complete  with  horse,  foot,  and  the  artillery  of  catapults 
and  machines,  on  the  Gallic  shore  of  the  Channel.    No 
one  could  even  guess  at  his  intention,  when  he  suddenly 
gave   the  order  that  the  soldiers    were   to    fill    their 
helmets  and  pockets  with  shells.     "  These,"   he  said, 
"  are  the  spoils  of  the  ocean,  and  are  due  to  the  Capitol 
and  the  Palatine,"  whither  he  accordingly  sent  them, 
with  directions  that  they  should  be  laid  up  among  the 
treasures  of  the  Empire.  There  was  more  sense  in  the 
erection  of  a  lofty  tower  on  the  coast,  which  was  to 
serve  as  a  lighthouse,  as  well  as  to  be  a  local  memorial 
of  his  victories.      These   and    these   only   were   the 
results  of  what  Tacitus  calls  "  the  absurdity  of  the 
expeditions  of  Caligula."     The  tranquillity  of  Britain, 
however,  was  not  to  last  much  longer.     As  usual  it 
was  a  pretender  who  invited  the  interference  of  Rome. 

'  The  **  Cymbeline  "  of  Shakespeare. 


taitafaflk>iflki«M»iiiU»iMai«iiiaiaitariaiM^ 


34      BRITAIN  AND   THE   SUCCESSORS   OF  CMSAR. 

In  A  D.  43    one  Bericus '    applied   to  the    Emperor 
Claudius  for  help.      At  the  same  time  his  extradition 
was  demanded   of  Rome   by  his   enemies  at  home. 
The   Emperor   determined    to   avail  himself  of    the 
opportunity.     The  demand  of  the  British  envoy  for 
the  surrender  of  the  fugitive  was  refused,  and  Aulus 
Plautius,  who  had  been  Consul  fourteen  years  before, 
and  then  held  a  command  in  Gaul,  was  entrusted  with 
the  care  of  the  proposed  expedition.     Four  legions, 
the   Second,  the    Ninth,   the    Fourteenth,   and    the 
Twentieth,  were  chosen  for  this  service.     The  soldiers 
were  exceedingly  unwilling  to  go.     Britain  seemed  to 
them  to  lie  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  world,  and 
they  positively  refused  to  proceed.     Claudius  sent  his 
freedman  Narcissus  to  remonstrate  with  them.     Nar- 
cissus mounted  the  tribunal,   and  sought  to  address 
the  troops.     But  they  interrupted  him  with  cries  of 
lo  Saturnalia  !     They  meant  that  it  was  no  holiday- 
time   when,   as    during    the    festival    of    Saturn    m 
December,  a  slave  might  play  the  part  of  a  master. 
After  this,  however,  they  returned  to  their  obedience. 
The  force,  which,  as  the  legions  now  had  numerous 
auxiliaries  attached   to   them,  may  be   reckoned   at 
about  forty  thousand,  was  divided  into  three  parts. 
The  passage  across  the  Channel  was  long  and  difficult, 
the  transports  being  more  than  once  driven  back  by 
adverse  winds  ;  but  the  landing  was  effected  without 
any  opposition  from  the  natives.     The  arrival  of  the 
army,  we  are  told,  was  unexpected  ;  but  we  have  seen 

'  We  have  no  information  as  to  who  this  Bericus  was,  but  the  name 
♦«  Veric  "  appears  on  some  British  coins,  and  it  is  probable  that,  as  Dean 
Merivale  suggests,  that  the  two  may  be  the  same. 


CARACTACUS. 


35 


I 


before,  in  the  second  expedition  of  Caesar,  that  the 
Britons  did  not  feel  themselves  able  to  resist  the 
landing  of  a  really  powerful  force. 

Kingr  Cunobelin  had  died  in  the  interval  between 
46  and  43,  and  his  power  was  divided  between  his 
sons,  Caractacus  (Caradoc)  and  Togidumnus.  These 
princes,  who  were  in  command  of  the  united  British 
force,  were  successively  defeated  by  Plautius  in  the 
marshes  and  forests  to  which  they  had  retired.  The 
account  of  the  campaign  now  becomes  very  obscure. 
Plautius  received  the  submission  of  part  of  the  tribe 
of  the  "  Boduni,"  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  the 
Dobuni  who  inhabited  what  is  now  known  as  Glouces- 
tershire. This  seems  difficult  to  believe,  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  identify  the  river  mentioned  as  that  which 
Plautius  reached,  after  passing  through  the  country 
of  the  Dobuni,  with  the  Severn.  Possibly  the  Med- 
way  may  be  meant.  Whatever  was  the  river  in 
question,  the  Romans  crossed  it  unexpectedly,  thanks 
to  the  skill  of  the  Batavian  cavalry  in  swimming. 
The  enemy  abandoned  their  position,  and  an  officer, 
who  afterwards  became  famous,  Vespasian,  was  sent 
in  pursuit  of  them.  The  Britons  fell  back  upon  the 
Thames.  Crossing  it  themselves  somewhere  in  its 
course  between  London  and  the  sea,  they  awaited  the 
invaders  in  the  confidence  that  this  obstacle  at  least 
would  prove  too  formidable  for  the  enemy.  The 
Batavian  cavalry  again  showed  their  skill  and  courage, 
while  other  troops  crossed  the  river  "  a  little  further 
up  by  means  of  bridges,"  a  statement  which  we  must 
interpret,  it  would  seem,  of  London,  as  the  Thames 
has  never  been  bridged  below  that  point.     Here,  how- 


EMti;aiiaidffiaap  gcMKiiJt:^ 


36     BRIT  AW  AND   THE  SUCCESSORS   OP  C^SAR, 

ever,  a  reverse  was  suffered.  The  pursuit  of  the  flying 
Britons  was  pushed  too  far  ;  the  Romans  were  en- 
tangled in  what  are  now  known  as  the  Essex  Marshes, 
and  lost  many  of  their  number. 

Togidumnus  had  been  slain  in  one  of  these  engage- 
ments. The  Britons,  however,  showed  no  disposition 
to  submit,  and  Plautius  felt,  or  pretended  to  feel, 
some  doubt  as  to  the  result.  He  sent,  as  he  had  been 
instructed  to  send,  should  any  emergency  arise,  for 
Claudius  himself.  The  Emperor  started  from  Rome 
without  delay  as  soon  as  the  summons  reached  him. 
The  forces  which  he  was  to  take  with  him  were  in 
readiness,  and  included  a  troop  of  war  elephants.  He 
sailed  from  Ostia  to  Marseilles,  traversed  the  length 
of  Gaul  overland  or  by  navigable  rivers,  crossed  over 
to  Britain,  and  effected  a  junction  with  the  army  of 
Plautius,  which  was  awaiting  his  arrival  on  the  banks 
of  the  Thames.  Suetonius  declares  that  the  Emperor 
fought  no  battle,  and,  indeed,  saw  no  blood  shed  ;  but 
Suetonius  is  always  disposed  to  depreciate  the  Julian 
or  hereditary  emperors,  and  it  is  safer  to  take  Dio 
Cassius  as  our  authority.  Dio  relates  that  Claudius 
crossed  the  Thames  with  the  combined  forces,  van- 
quished the  Britons,  who  had  gathered  a  great  force 
to  resist  him,  and  captured  Camalodunum,^  the  capital 
town  of  Cunobelin  and  his  dynasty.  The  neigh- 
bouring tribes  gave  in  their  submission,  and  Claudius 
within  a  few  days  returned  to  Rome  (from  which  he 
was  absent  scarcely  six  months),  and  celebrated  his 

*  Camalodunum  may  be  identified  with  the  modern  Colchester,  i.e., 
Coloniacastra.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  a  British  oppidum  was 
an  extensive  enclosure,  large  enough  to  contain  pasture  for  the  cattle 
which  it  was  intended  to  protect. 


CLAUDIUS, 


37 


successes  by  a  splendid  triumph,  the  Senate  conferring 
upon  him  the  title  of  Britannicus.^  A  relic  of  these 
honours  still  remains  in  the  fragment  of  an  inscrip- 
tion, which  records  how  "without  any  loss  he  van- 
quished the  kings  of  Britain." 

Whatever  successes  Claudius  may  have  won,  the 
island  was  far  from  being  conquered.  King  Caradoc 
himself,  though  he  had  lost  his  capital,  continued  to 
resist.  Vespasian  was  sent  to  do  battle  with  him.  His 
exploits  were  without  question  considerable,  for  it  was 
now,  as  Tacitus  puts  it,  that  he  was  singled  out  for 
his  destiny  as  Emperor  of  Rome ;    but  these  have 


COIN   OF  CLAUDIUS. 

{The first  occasion  on  which  allusion  is  made  to  Britain  on  the  coinai^e 

of  Rome.) 

been  very  briefly  related,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
recover  the  details.  The  only  incident  related  by  Dio, 
that  on  one  occasion  the  general  was  surrounded  by 
the  enemy,  and  was  rescued  from  them  by  the  daring 
of  his  son  Titus,  must  be  pronounced  a  fiction,  as 
Titus  could  not  have  been  more  than  six  years  old. 
"  He  fought,"  says  Suetonius,  including  all  his  British 
campaigns,  "thirty  times  with  the  enemy,  subdued 
two  very  powerful  tribes,  and  subjugated  the  Island 

'  This  descended  to  his  son,  the  unhappy  lad  who  was  thrust  aside  by 
the  ambition  of  his  step-mother,  the  younger  Agrippina,  to  make  room 
for  Nero,  and  was  afterwards  poisoned  by  the  usurper. 


38      BRITAIN  AND    THE   SUCCESSORS   OF  CjESAR, 

of  Vectis  (Isle  of  Wight)."  He  was  therefore  engaged 
in  the  south  and  west.      As  the  Regni  (inhabiting 
what    is    now   Sussex)    had    made   terms   with   the 
Romans,^  we  may  locate  the  conquests  of  Vespasian 
in  Hampshire,  Dorsetshire,  and  Wiltshire.     One  of 
the  two  "  very  powerful  tribes  "  may  have  been  the 
Durotriges.     Prasutagus,  king  of  the  Iceni  (Norfolk 
and  Suffolk),  followed  the  example  of  Cogidumnus, 
and  sought  the  friendship  of  Rome.     He  even  imi- 
tated the  flattery  or  precaution  commonly  practised 
by  Roman  nobles  anxious  to  secure  for  their  families 
at  least  a  portion  of   their  wealth,  and   named   the 
Emperor  among  his  legatees.     We  shall  hear  more 
hereafter  of  the  outcome  of  his  dealings  with  Rome. 
In   47  A.D.  Plautius  was  recalled.     He  was   con- 
sidered to  have  conducted  his  campaigns  with  great 
judgment,  and    received   special   honours    from    the 
Emperor.     An  "ovation,"  or   smaller   triumph,   was 
decreed   to   him,   and   Claudius   walked    by  his  side 
both  as  he  went  to  the  Capitol   and  as  he  returned. 
He   had  the  satisfaction,   if    the    passage   in  Dio  is 
genuine,  of  exhibiting  British  gladiators  in  the  arena. 
Ostorius  Scapula  was  sent  to  succeed  him. 


»  "  Cogidumnus  remained,"  says  Tacitus,  "  a  most  faithful  ally  down 
lo  our  times."  If  the  historian  visited  Britain  in  company  with  Agri- 
cola  (see  p.  58),  he  may  have  seen  this  prince  in  extreme  old  age. 
Cogidumnus  seems,  from  an  inscription  found  at  Chichester,  to  have 
assumed  the  Roman  names  of  Tiberius  Claudius. 


V, 


CARACTACUS. 

Ostorius  Scapula  found  that  his  predecessor's 

victories  had  left  him  much  to  do.  There  had  been 
an  interval  of  inaction  between  the  departure  of  one 
commander  and  the  arrival  of  another,  and  the  Britons 
hsi^  availed  themselves  of  it  to  invade  the  country  of 
the  tribes  friendly  to  Rome.  Though  it  was  very 
late  in  the  year,  Ostorius  at  once  set  about  the  con- 
struction of  a  line  of  forts,  which  was  to  keep  the 
hostile  tribes  in  check.  Tacitus,  the  only  authority 
that  we  have  to  follow,  is  here  very  obscure.  He 
speaks  of  the  Severn  as  one  of  the  limits  of  this  line. 
The  other  is  uncertain  ;  but  it  has  been  guessed  to 
be  the  Nen.  Anyhow  the  proceedings  of  Ostorius 
seems  to  have  offended  the  Iceni,  a  powerful  people 
in  the  east  of  the  island,  which  had  hitherto  been 
friendly.  The  Iceni  were  followed  into  rebellion  by 
several  dependent  tribes.  Ostorius  acted  with  the 
old  Roman  energy.  The  main  body  of  the  legions 
was  elsewhere,  but  he  attacked  the  enemy's  camp 
with  his  force  of  cavalry  and  friendly  Britons,  and 
carried  it  by  storm.^     The  besieged  were  entangled 

*  Tacitus  does  not  give  us  a  hint  of  where  this  took  place. 


du^^^wiU^^^^i^ 


lAmiMft-'^-'^-^ii 


11 


40 


CARACTACUS. 


in  their  own  defences,  and  made  a  desperate  resist- 
ance ;  but  the  Roman  discipline  could  not  be  resisted. 
The  last  being  thus  reduced  to  submission,  Ostorius 
at  once  marched  to  the  extreme  west  to  attack  the 
Cangi,  who  are  supposed  to  have  inhabited  the  penin- 
sula of  Carnarvonshire.  He  had  nearly  reached  the 
"coast  which  faces  Ireland,"  when  he  was  called 
north  by  disturbances  among  the  Brigantes,  a  power- 
ful people  occupying  what  is  now  Lancashire  and 
Yorkshire.  The  Brigantes  quieted, he  was  called  south- 
ward again  by  a  movement  of  the  Silures  under  King 
Caradoc.  It  is  rather  puzzling  to  be  told  that  the 
Roman  general,  to  keep  them  in  check,  founded  the 
colony  I  of  Camalodunum  (Colchester).  A  military 
station  in  the  east  could  not  exercise  a  very  direct 
influence  on  a  turbulent  tribe  in  the  west.  Anyhow 
the  general  found  it  necessary  to  take  the  field  and  to 
march  against  the  Silures.  Caradoc  did  not  await  the 
attack  in  his  own  country.  He  did  not  suppose  that 
his  rude  levies  could  be  a  match  for  the  Roman 
troops ;  but  he  hoped  much  from  being  able  to  choose 
the  field  of  battle,  and  he  chose  it  in  the  territories  of 
his  neighbours  on  the  north,  the  Ordovices.^ 

The  scene  of  the  final  conflict  it  is  impossible  to 

'  A  Roman  colony  was  a  military  settlement.  Lands  belonging  to 
the  conquered  were  assigned  to  soldiers  who  had  served  their  time  with 
the  legions.  These  veterans  seem  to  have  dwelt  in  the  town  and  to 
have  cultivated  ;  perhaps  permitted  the  former  owners  to  cultivate  on 
certain  conditions  the  farms  which  had  been  made  over  to  them.  "  The 
colony,"  says  Tacitus,  "  was  meant  to  act  as  a  shelter  in  case  of  a 
rebellion,  and  as  a  way  of  teaching  the  subject  people  respect  for  Roman 
laws."     We  shall  see  how  Camalodunum  fulfilled  these  duties. 

'  TheOrdovices  are  located  in  North  Wales  and  the  western  part  of 
the  neighbouring  English  counties. 


ORATION  ON   THE  BATTLE-FIELD. 


41 


It 


I 


identify.  Tacitus  tells  us  that  the  British  king  chose 
a  place  where  advance  and  retreat  alike  would  be 
difficult  for  the  Romans  and  comparatively  easy  for 
his  own  men,  that  this  place  was  on  a  lofty  hill,  the 
easier  slopes  of  which  were  fortified  with  ramparts  of 
stone,  and  that  a  river  of  uncertain  depth,  i.e.,  it  may 
be  conjectured,  with  no  regular  ford,  flowed  in  front.^ 
The  chiefs  of  the  various  tribes  which  had  furnished 
contingents  to  the  army  encouraged  their  men  to 
make  a  brave  struggle  for  freedom.  The  king  him- 
self hurried  from  line  to  line  protesting  that  the  result 
of  the  day  would  be  either  to  set  Britain  free  or  to 
fasten  its  chains  for  ever.  He  appealed  to  the 
memory  of  those  who  a  hundred  years  before  had 
driven  back  the  dictator  Caesar,  and  to  whose  valour 
they  owed  it  that  they  were  still  free,  and  could  still 
call  their  wives  and  their  children  their  own.  The 
Britons  answered  the  appeal  with  wild  shouts  of 
applause,  and  swore  by  all  that  wsls  most  sacred  to 
them  not  to  give  way. 

So  formidable  was  the  aspect  of  the  enthusiastic 
multitude  of  the  frowning  hill- tops,  the  rampart,  and 
the  river,  that  Ostorius  was  inclined  to  manoeuvre. 
But  his  troops  insisted  upon  being  at  once  led  to  the 
attack.  This  was  a  kind  of  disobedience  which 
Roman  generals  were  not  inclined  to  resist,  and 
Ostorius  gave  the  signal  for  advance.  He  had,  how- 
ever, surveyed  the  ground,  and  knew  where  the  attack 


*  Dean  Merivale  gives  a  doubtful  preference  to  Coxall  Knoll,  near 
Lentwardine.on  the  Teme,  among  many  places  for  which  the  distinction 
of  being  the  scene  of  the  great  battle  has  been  claimed.  Earthworks 
are  still  to  be  seen  upon  the  hill. 


I 


42 


CARACTACUS. 


CARADOC  IN  ROME. 


43 


could  be  most  easily  and  profitably  delivered.     The 
river  was  easily  crossed.     We  have  seen  the  Roman 
legionaries    surmounting     much     more     formidable 
obstacles.     The  assailants  suffered  most  when  they 
came  to  the  rampart.     For   some   time   they  stood 
exposed  to  the  shower  of  missiles  which  the  Britons 
poured  upon   them.      Here  the  loss  in    killed   and 
wounded   was   considerable.      But   it    was    not  long 
before  they  formed  a  testudo,^  and   under  its  shelter 
tore  down  the  rude  defence  of  uncemented  stones. 
The  Britons  could  not  hold  their  own  in  a  hand-to- 
hand  struggle  with  the  well-armed  legionaries.     They 
retreated  to  the  heights,  but  both  the  heavy  and  the 
light-armed  troops  followed  them.     Both  were  better 
equipped  for  battle  than  themselves.     The  skirmishers 
had  artillery  of  longer  range  ;  the  legionaries  were 
protected   by   breast-plates   and   helmets,   and    were 
powerfully  armed    with    swords    and  javelins  of  the 
best  temper.2     Even  the  light  arms  of  native  allies  of 
the  enemy  were  more  serviceable  than  anything  that 
the  patriots  possessed.     Victory  did  not  long  remain 

doubtful.     Caradoc's  wife  and  daughter  were  captured, 

and  his  brothers  yielded  themselves  prisoners. 

The   king   himself  escaped  for   a  time,  and  took 

refuge  with  Cartismandua,  Queen  of  the  Brigantes. 

She   put   him   in  chains,  and  delivered  him  to  the 

Romans. 

It  is  impossible  to  assign  to  their  proper  years  the 

various  events  of  the  war  which  came  to  an  end  with 

the  capture  of  Caradoc  ;  but  we  know  that  he  had 

'  See  description  of  this  formation  on  p.  23. 

*  It  is  probable  that  many  of  the  British  weapons  were  of  bronze. 


held  out  for  eight  years  against  the  power  of  Rome.' 
His  fame  as  a  national  champion  had  spread  not  only 
over  Britain  and  Gaul,  but  even  into  Italy.     All  were 
anxious  to  see  this  brave  chieftain,  and  none  more  so 
than  the  Emperor  himself  Caradoc  was  sent  to  Rome, 
and  a  great  spectacle  was  made  out  of  the  exhibition 
of  the  famous  prisoner.     The  populace  thronged  the 
Field  of  Mars  ;  the  Praetorians,  or  household  troops, 
were  drawn  up  in  arms  in  front  of  their  camp,  and  a 
tribunal  was  erected  in  the   midst  of  the   array,  with 
the  standard  behind,  and  two  thrones  in  front,   on 
which   sat   Claudius   and   the    Empress    Agrippina. 
Military  etiquette  was  shocked  to  see  a  woman  seated 
before  the  standards,  but  Agrippina  held  herself,  not 
without  reason,  to  be  the  true  ruler  of  Rome.     To 
this  spot  the  procession  made  its  way.     In  front  came 
the  vassals  of  the  captive  king.     Behind  these  were 
carried  the  collars  of  gold  and  other  decorations  and 
spoils  which  he  had  himself  won  in  earlier  wars  from 
British  rivals.     Then  came  his  brothers,  his  daughter 
and  his  wife,  and,  last  of  all,  Caradoc  himself     All 
his  companions  prostrated  themselves  on  the  ground ; 
the  king  alone  stood  erect.     The  speech  which  he  was 
permitted   to   deliver    has    been    thus   reported    by 
Tacitus,  but  how  much  belongs  to  the  historian,  how 
much  to  the  king,  it  is  impossible  to  determine : 

"  Had  my  moderation  in  prosperity  been  equal  to 
my  noble  birth  and  fortune,  I  should  have  entered 
this  city  as  your  friend  rather  than  as  your  prisoner  ; 
and  you  would  not  have  disclaimed  to  welcome  as 

'  It  was  in  A.D.  43  that  Claudius  crossed  over  into  Britain,  and  in  50 
that  Caradoc  was  taken  prisoner. 


x^'-aaa-J  .  .--^..J..  -■;..<j!rtj--«tM:.,.l...i)aAi  iWi..rin^;...>...jfM^«-..^;...- ..--  a-...-w- j...-.«..-.^...i.A.-i>»-.  4Afcj-.i..  ,f.-*i.J»a.la.>J.^...»j;-J:.-^^ 


CARADOC  PARDONED  BY  CLAUDIUS, 


45 


II 


2: 


O 

e 


^ 


I 


I 


an  ally  a  king  of  illustrious  descent  who  ruled  many 
nations.  My  present  lot  is  as  glorious  to  you  as  it 
is  degrading  to  myself.  I  had  horses,  soldiers,  arms, 
and  wealth.  What  wonder  if  I  was  loath  to  part 
with  them  !  You  are  indeed  determined  to  rule  the 
whole  world  ;  but  does  it  follow  that  all  the  world  is 
to  welcome  servitude  ?  Had  I  been  at  once  surren- 
dered to  your  power,  neither  my  fall  nor  your  triumph 
would  have  gained  their  present  distinction.  Put  me 
to  death,  and  my  whole  story  will  be  forgotten.  Spare 
me,  and  your  clemency  will  be  remembered  for  ever.'* 
Claudius,  who  along  with  much  weakness  and 
vanity,  had  some  generous  impulses,  pardoned  the 
king  and  his  family.  They  were  not,  however,  per- 
mitted to  return  to  their  native  country.^ 

'  According  to  one  historian,  Caradoc  is  said  to  have  exclaimed  when 
he  saw  the  size  and  magnificence  of  Rome,  "  Strange  that  they  who 
own  possessions  so  many  and  so  splendid  should  envy  us  our  poor 
huts  !  "  An  interesting  conjecture  connects  the  Claudia  mentioned  by 
Martial  (iv.  13)  as  a  British  lady  married  to  one  Pudeus  with  the  family 
of  Caractacus.  She  may  have  been  the  "  daughter  "  mentioned  as 
being  one  of  the  prisoners.  This  is  not  impossible,  as  Caradoc  may 
have  taken  the  family  name  of  the  Emperor,  when  he  settled  down  to 
spend  the  rest  of  his  life  as  a  Roman  subject  in  Italy.  The  times,  how- 
ever, hardly  suit.  The  daughter,  who  was  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
procession,  was  probably  a  grown  woman,  and  in  a.d.  60  (and  Martial 
could  scarcely  have  written  earlier)  would  be  past  the  usual  age  of  a 
Roman  bride.  It  is  more  probable  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  King 
Cogidubnus,  whom  we  know  to  have  taken  the  name  of  Claudius, 
calling  himself  Tiberius  Claudius  Cogidubnus.  This  Claudia  becomes 
still  more  interesting  to  us  if  she  can  be  identified  with  the  Claudia 
mentioned  by  St.  Paul  in  2  Tim.  iv.  21,  and  mentioned  along  with  a 
Pudens.  Dean  Alford  suggests  that  this  Claudia  may  have  become  a 
Christian  through  her  connection  with  Pomponia,  wife  of  Aulus 
Plautius,  of  whom  Tacitus  relates  that  she  was  accused  of  having 
attached  herself  to  some  "  foreign  superstition,"  and  that  she  lived  a 
*'long  life  of  unbroken  melancholy,"  a  possible  description,  from  a 


CARADOC   PARDONED   BY   CLAUDIUS, 


45 


i 


^ 

N* 

^ 


•V. 

< 

<  :5 


s 


an  ally  a  king  of  illustrious  descent  who  ruled  many 
nations.  My  present  lot  is  as  glorious  to  you  as  it 
is  degrading  to  myself.  I  had  horses,  soldiers,  arms, 
and  wealth.  What  w^onder  if  I  w'as  loath  to  part 
with  them  !  You  are  indeed  determined  to  rule  the 
whole  world  ;  but  does  it  follow  that  all  the  world  is 
to  welcome  servitude?  Had  I  been  at  once  surren- 
dered to  your  power,  neither  my  fall  nor  your  triumph 
would  have  gained  their  present  distinction.  Put  me 
to  death,  and  my  whole  story  will  be  forgotten.  Spare 
me,  and  your  clemency  will  be  remembered  for  ever." 
Claudius,  who  along  with  much  weakness  and 
vanity,  had  some  generous  impulses,  pardoned  the 
king  and  his  family.  They  were  not,  however,  per- 
mitted to  return  to  their  native  country. ^ 

*  Accordini^  to  one  historian,  Caradoc  is  said  to  have  exclaimed  when 
he  saw  the  size  and  magnificence  of  Rome,  "  Strange  that  they  who 
own  possessions  so  many  and  so  splendid  should  envy  us  our  poor 
huts  !  "  An  interesting  conjecture  connects  the  Claudia  mentioned  hy 
Martial  (iv.  13)  as  a  British  lady  married  to  one  Pudeus  with  the  family 
of  Caractacus.  She  may  have  l)een  the  "  daughter  "  mentioned  as 
being  one  of  the  prisoners.  This  is  not  impossible,  as  Caradoc  may 
have  taken  the  family  name  of  the  Emperor,  when  he  settled  down  to 
spend  the  rest  of  his  life  as  a  Roman  subject  in  Italy.  The  times,  how- 
ever, hardly  suit.  The  daughter,  who  was  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
procession,  w^as  probably  a  grown  woman,  and  in  a.d.  60  (and  Martial 
could  scarcely  have  written  earlier)  would  be  past  the  usual  age  of  a 
Roman  bride.  It  is  more  probable  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  King 
Cogidul)nus,  whom  we  know  to  have  taken  the  name  of  Claudius, 
calling  himself  Tiberius  Claudius  Cogidubnus.  This  Claudia  becomes 
still  more  interesting  to  us  if  she  can  be  identified  with  the  Claudia 
mentioned  by  St.  Paul  in  2  Tim.  iv.  21,  and  mentioned  along  with  a 
Pudens.  Dean  Alford  suggests  that  this  Claudia  may  have  become  a 
Christian  through  her  connection  with  Pomponia,  w^ife  of  Aulus 
Plautius,  of  whom  Tacitus  relates  that  she  was  accused  of  having 
attached  herself  to  some  "  foreign  superstition,"  and  that  she  lived  a 
*' long  life  of  unbroken  melancholy,"   a  possible  description,  from  a 


^6  CARACTACUS. 

The  resistance  of  the  Silures  was  not  terminated 
by  the  captivity  of  their  king.  Whether  it  was  that 
their  despair  made  them  irresistible,  or  that  the 
Romans  were  rendered  careless  by  success,  it  is  certain 
that  the  Britons  won  more  than  one  victory.  A  party 
that  had  been  sent  to  fortify  positions  in  the  district 
was  attacked  with  such  fury  that  the  camp  prefect 
with  eight  of  his  centurions  and  a  number  of  his  best 
soldiers  were  killed.  Only  the  prompt  arrival  of  sup- 
ports saved  the  force  from  destruction.  Not  long  after 
the  main  Roman  army  suffered  a  severe  check.  A 
force  of  foragers  was  routed  by  a  sudden  attack  of 
the  Britons,  and  the  cavalry  sent  to  support  them 
were  repulsed.  Ostorius,  who  was  present  in  person, 
brought  his  light  cohorts  into  action,  but  without 
success,  and  it  was  only  when  the  heavy  armed 
legions  came  up  that  a  stand  was  made.  On  the 
whole  the  result  was  a  British  victory.  The  Silures 
were,  of  course,  greatly  encouraged  by  this  result, 
and  they  continued  to  wage  a  desultory  war  with  all 
the  more  vigour,  when  Ostorius,  impatient  at  their 
obstinate  resistance,  was  reported  to  have  declared 
that  the  very  name  of  the  Silures  should  perish  as 
completely  as  that  of  the  Sagambri  had  perished.^ 

Roman  point  of  view,  of  the  profession  of  Christianity.  Anyhow, 
Claudia  was  of  British  birth,  and,  if  Martial,  writing  on  the  occasion  of 
her  marriage  with  Pudens,  is  to  be  believed,  a  very  charming  young  lady. 

"  Our  Claudia  see,  true  Roman,  though  she  springs 
From  a  long  line  of  Britain's  painted  kings  ; 
Italia's  self  might  claim  so  fair  a  face, 
And  Athens  envy  her  her  matchless  grace." 

«  The  Sagambri,    a   German   tribe,  had  been  removed  bodily  by 
A'lgustus  into  Roman  territory. 


DEATH  OF  OSTORIUS. 


47 


Worn  out  by  the  incessant  activity  of  the  enemy 
and  by  the  misconduct  of  his  own  officers — two  cohorts 
were  lost  through  the  greed  of  their  commanding 
officers  for  plunder — Ostorius  died.  The  Britons  re- 
joiced to  think  that  if  he  had  not  fallen  on  the  field, 
the  war  had  certainly  brought  him  to  his  end. 

Ostorius  was  succeeded  by  Didius  Gallus,  who  was 
contented  on  the  whole  to  maintain  the  Roman 
dominion  as  he  had  found  it.  Little  of  importance 
took  place,  but  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  leader  of  the 
Britons  was  now  Venutius,  the  husband  of  that  Queen 
Cartismandua  who  had  betrayed  King  Caradoc. 
Didius  Gallus  surrendered  his  government  in  57,  and 
was  succeeded  by  another  aged  officer,  Quintus 
Veranius,!  ^^ho  died  within  a  year  of  his  coming 
into  Britain.  In  the  following  year  Nero,  whose 
jealousy  had  probably  had  something  to  do  with  the 
appointment  of  inefficient  commanders,  sent  one  of 
the  best  soldiers  of  the  time,  Suetonius  Paulinus,  to 
take  up  the  command.^ 

The  chronology  of  these  successive  governors  is 
uncertain,  but  we  may  conjecturally  state  their  terms 
of  office  as  follows  : — 


Plautius 
Ostorius 
Didius 
Veranius 


43-47 
47-50 
50-57 
57-58 


*  Veranius  had  held  office  under  Caligula  forty  years  before. 
'  "No  one,"  says  Tacitus,  speaking  of  a  time  ten  years  later,  *'  had" 
in  these  days  a  greater  military  reputation  than  Suetonius." 


f 


SUBJUGATION  OF  MONA. 


49 


VI. 


BOADICEA. 


No  details  have  been  preserved  for  us  of  the  cam- 
paigns which  Suetonius  Paulinus  carried  on  during 
the  first  two  years  of  his  government  (A.D.  59-60), 
but  we  are  told  in  general  terms  that  they  were  very 
successful.  What  we  know  is,  that  in  his  third  year 
he  felt  that  the  work  of  conquest  had  been  so  well 
done  that  he  could  venture  to  attack  Mona  (the 
modern  Anglesey),  the  stronghold  of  Druid  worship, 
and,  we  may  venture  to  say,  of  British  independence. 
To  do  this  in  safety  he  must  have  subjugated  the 
Silures,  so  long  the  obstinate  enemies  of  Rome,  who 
would  otherwise  have  threatened  his  rear.  The  real 
danger,  of  which  he  seems  to  have  had  no  foreboding, 
came,  we   shall   see,  from   the   opposite   side  of  the 

island. 

The  legions  which  he  had  at  his  command  were 
four  in  number— the  Second,  the  Ninth,  the  Four- 
teenth, and  the  Twentieth.  Of  these  the  Second  was 
probably  stationed  in  the  valleys  of  the  Severn 
and  the  Wye,  the  Ninth  among  the  Iceni,  and  the 
Twentieth  on  the  borders  of  the  Brigantes,  who  were 
still  independent      The  Fourteenth  was  under  the 


general's  immediate  command,  and  having  been  em- 
ployed during  his  campaigns  in  the  west,  was  now  to 
complete  its  work  by  the  subjugation  of  Mona. 

The  infantry  of  the  legion  was  ferried  over  the 
channel  that  divides  Mona  from  the  mainland  in  flat- 
bottomed  boats  ;  the  cavalry  crossed  by  fording  or 
swimming.i  The  sight  that  met  their  eyes  as  they 
approached  the  land  was  strange  and  terrible  enough 
to  strike  them,  hardy  soldiers  as  they  were,  with 
astonishment.  A  vast  multitude  of  armed  men  lined 
the  shore.  Women  robed  in  black,  with  their  long 
hair  streaming  dishevelled  behind  them,  ran  wildly, 
torch  in  hand,  among  the  ranks,  while  the  Druid 
priests,  with  their  white  robes  and  chaplets  of  oak, 
stood  lifting  their  hands  to  the  skies,  and  pouring  out 
curses  upon  the  invaders.  For  some  moments  the 
assailants  halted  in  dismay,  while  the  Britons 
showered  missiles  upon  them.  Then  they  recovered 
themselves.  What  was  there  to  fear  in  an  army  of 
priests  and  women  ?  Probably  the  defenders  of  Mona 
had  little  real  strength.  Certainly  they  made  but 
little  resistance.  The  Druids  were  slaughtered,  and 
their  bodies  thrown  into  the  flames  of  their  own 
altars  ;  the  groves,  where  hideous  rites  of  human 
sacrifice  had  been  practised,  were  cut  down. 

Suetonius  was  thus  employed  when  tidings  reached 
him   of  a  native   rising   in    the   east  of  the   island, 

'  The  Menai  Straits  are  now  a  deep  channel  where  the  tide  runs 
rapidly.  There  is  nothing  like  a  ford,  and  to  swim  across  would  be  a 
feat  requiring  exceptional  strength.  Tacitus'  words — and  Tacitus  may 
generally  be  trusted  when  he  speaks  of  British  matters — are  so  precise 
that  we  are  driven  to  suppose  a  great  alteration  in  the  character  of  the 
channel  since  his  time. 


50 


BOADICEA. 


followed   by  dreadful  outrages.      The  rebellion  had 
been  provoked  by  the  greed  and  wickedness  of  the 
Roman    officials.       Prasutagus,   king    of    the    Iceni, 
hoping  to  secure  for  his  family  at  least  a  portion  of 
his  vast  wealth,  had  divided   it  by  will  between  the 
Emperor  and  his  two  daughters.'   He  was  cruelly  dis- 
appointed.    The  rapacity  of  the  Romans,  which  had 
been  kept  in  check  during  his  life,  broke  out  without 
restraint  on  his  death.    His  kingdom  was  overrun,  his 
very  palace   plundered.      His  queen,   Boadicea,   was 
cruelly  scourged  ;  his  daughters  outraged.     Nor  did 
his  people  escape.     The  nobles  were  stripped  of  their 
property,  while  the  humbler  class  was  harassed  by  the 
sudden  calling  in  of  money  lent  on  mortgage.^     The 
people  flew  to  arms,  and  were  joined  by  the  Trino- 
bantes  and  other  smaller  tribes.     The  first  object  of 
their  attack  was  the  colony  of  Camalodunum.     The 
veteran  soldiers  who  were  its  inhabitants  were  lawless, 
oppressive,   and    cruel.      The    temple   of  the    deified 
Claudius,  which  was  its  chief  building,  was  regarded 
with  especial  dislike  by  the  Britons  as  a  sign  of  their 
slavery.     A  new  kind  of  extortion  had  been  invented 
in    the   college   of    priests    that   was  attached  to  it. 
Wealthy  natives  were  elected  into  it,  and  found  their 
property   wasted    in    its  costly  worship.      Even   the 

^  This  was  a  common  practice  at  Rome.  Tacitus  tells  us  that  his 
father-in-law,  Agricola,  did  the  same  thing,  and  ridicules  the  delight 
wliich  Domitian  displayed  at  the  compliment.  "  His  mind  was  so 
blinded  and  perverted  by  flattery,  that  he  did  not  know  that  it  is  only  a 
bad  emperor  whom  a  good  father  names  in  his  will." 

»  Dio  Cassius  mentions  the  name  of  the  philosopher  Seneca  as  thus 
suddenly  demanding  the  money  which  he  had  lent  on  mortgage.  But 
Dio  is  very  bitter  against  Seneca,  whom  he  elsewhere  accuses  of  vice 
and  extravagance  very  inconsistent  with  his  professions. 


CAPTURE   OF   CAMALODUNUM. 


51 


safety  of  the  place  had  been  neglected.  Fortified 
towns  are  always  inconvenient  places  of  residence, 
and  Camalodunum  had  been  left  without  walls. 

There  had  been,  it  was  said,  warnings  of  the  coming 
disaster.     The  image  of  victory  fell  to  the  ground  in 
such  a  posture  that  it  looked  like  one  that  had  fled 
from  the  enemy  and  stumbled  in  his  flight.     Strange 
sounds  of  wailing  were  heard  in  the  council  chamber 
and   the  theatre  of  the  colony,  and    strange   sights 
seen  on  the  shore  and  in  the  river.     The  colonists 
begged    for    help    from    the     Procurator,    or    Civil 
Governor,   of    the    province.      He    sent    them    two 
hundred    men,    and    these   but   half    armed.       The 
regular  garrison  of    the   colony   was   small.      Even 
then  common  precautions  were  not  taken.      If   the 
non-combatants  had  been  sent  away,  and   the  town 
hastily  fortified  with  a  ditch  and  rampart,  it  might 
still  have  been  saved.     Neither  the  one  thing  nor  the 
other  was  done.     There  was  no  one  to  take  the  lead 
and  order  vigorous  measures,  while  those  who  sym- 
pathised with  the  revolt  hindered  all  action.      The 
only  strong   place  in  the  town  was   the  Temple   of 
Claudius ;  to  this,  when  the  storm   of  invasion  burst 
upon  them,  the  colonists  fled.     It  held   out  for  two 
days,  and  then  was  taken  by  storm.     Petilius  Cerialis, 
a   brilliant   soldier,   but    capable    of    making    great 
mistakes,  hurried    up  with  the  Ninth   Legion.     The 
victorious    Britons   turned    upon    him,    and    cut    his 
infantry  to  pieces.     Cerialis  himself,  with  his  cavalry^ 
contrived  to  make  his  way  back  to  his  camp,  which  was 
probably  near  the  Wash.     The  Civil  Governor,  whose 
rapacity  had  had  much  to  do  with  the  revolt,  escaped 


n 


52 


BO  AD  ICE  A. 


MOVEMENTS   OF  SUETONIUS. 


53 


into  Gaul,  and  for  the  time  Eastern  Britain  was  lost 

to  Rome. 

The  whole  province  might  have  been  lost  also  but 
for  the   courage   of    Suetonius.      He  marched   back 
from  Mona  with  his  own  legion,  the  Fourteenth.     A 
part  of  the  Twentieth  was  withdrawn  from  its  station 
on  the  border  of  the  Brigantes  to  join  him,  and  his 
force  would  have  been  still  further  increased  by  the 
Second  from  the  valley  of  the   Severn   but   for  the 
cowardice  of  its  commander,  who  did  not  venture  to 
leave  his  camp.     Suetonius's  original  plan  had  been 
to  make  Londinium  the  base  of  his  operations,  but  he 
found  himself  compelled  to  change  it.     The  Second 
Legion  had  failed  him,  and  the  Ninth  had  been  de- 
stroyed.    He  had  only  one  legion  and  the  veterans » 
of  another,  scarcely  ten  thousand  troops  in  all.     He 
resolved  to  leave  Londinium  to  the  enemy.     It  was  a 
populous  and  wealthy  town  ;  but  he  was  not  strong 
enough  to  defend  it.     The  prayers  and  tears  of  the 
inhabitants  could  not  move  him   from  his  purpose. 
All  that  he  could  do  was  to  allow  the  able-bodied  to 
accompany  his  march.     Londinium  was  sacked  and 
destroyed    by  the    insurgents,   and  Verulamium   (St. 
Albans)  met  with  the  same  fate.      The  Britons  did 
not  attack  the  military  posts,  but  wreaked  an  easier 
vengeance  on  the  unfortified  towns.     No  quarter  was 
given,  no  prisoners  taken.     Men,  women,  and  children 
were  put  to  death  with  hideous  cruelty.     It  was  the 
oppressions  of  years  for  which  vengeance  was  taken. 


'  Soldiers  who  had  served  their  time,  but  remained  in  the  camp  a*i 
combatants,  being  free  from  other  duties. 


Seventy,  one  account  says  eighty,  thousand  victims 

perished. 

Of  the  movements  of  Suetonius  after  he  evacuated 
London  we  can  only  guess.  The  historian  tells  us 
that  the  place  which  he  chose  for  the  decisive  battle 
had  hills  on  either  side  and  a  forest  behind.  His 
heavy  armed  infantry  was  massed  in  the  centre,  the 
light  troops  were  on  either  flank,  and  the  cavalry 
were  posted  in  advance  of  both  wings.  The  Britons 
covered  the  whole  plain  in  front,  in  number,  if  Dio  is 
to  be  believed,  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand.  So 
confident  were  they  of  victory  that  their  women  stood 
on  waggons  behind  their  army  to  watch  the  battle. 

Boadicea  addressed  her  troops  from  an  artificial 
mound.  Dio  speaks  of  her  gigantic  stature,  her  stern 
features,  the  fierce  glance  of  her  eyes,  and  the  deep 
tones  of  her  voice.  Her  hair,  of  the  deepest  red,  fell 
in  thick  luxuriance  to  her  hips  ;  a  heavy  chain  of 
twisted  gold  was  round  her  neck.  She  was  clad  in  a 
tunic  of  brightly-coloured  tartan,  with  a  thick  military 
cloak  buckled  over  it,  and  she  held  a  spear  in  her 
right  hand.  We  need  not  reproduce  the  speech  which 
Dio  puts  into  her  mouth.  It  is  just  what  a  rhetorician 
would  have  written,  a  discourse  on  the  blessing  of 
liberty,  the  curse  of  slavery,  a  contrast  between  British 
simplicity  and  Roman  luxury,  and  an  attempt  to  per- 
suade her  hearers  that  their  light  arms  were  better 
than  the  heavy  equipment  of  the  legions.  We  may 
be  certain  that  no  report  of  what  she  really  said  was 
preserved. I     But  we  can  well  believe  that,  as  Tacitus 

'  Dio  makes  her  harangue  her  troops  at  the  beginning  of  the  cam- 
paign, and  adds  a  curious  incident  of  her  letting  loose  a  hare.     The 


54 


BOADICEA. 


THE  BRITONS  DEFEATED. 


55 


tells  us,  she  pointed  to  her  own  person,  scarred  with 
the  Roman  rods,  and  to  her  daughters,  who  had  been 
so  shamefully  wronged ;  that  she  reminded  her  country- 
men of  the  successes  which  they  had  already  won  and 
the  vengeance  which  they  had  already  taken,  and 
assured  them  that  their  numbers,  if  only  they  re- 
membered that  they  were  men,  would   make  them 

irresistible. 

The  speech  with  which  Suetonius  encouraged  his 
men  has  probably  come  down  to  us.     Words  spoken 
at  such  a  time  are  not  easily  forgotten,  and  there  was 
one  among  his  audience  who  may  well  have  given  his 
recollection  of  this  as  well  as  of  other  events  of  the 
day  to  the  historian.^    "  Men,*'  he  said,  pointing  to  the 
barbarians,  "you  see  more  women  than  soldiers.    Un- 
warlike,  even  unarmed,  they  will  give  way  the  moment 
they  see  again  their  conquerors,  with  those  swords 
and  that  courage  which  have  routed  them  already  so 
often.     Even  when  there  are  many  legions,  it  is  a  few 
who  really  decide  the  battle.     It  will  enhance  your 
glory,  if  a  small  force  shall  earn  for  itself  the  glory 
of  a  whole  army.     Close  up  your  ranks  ;   first  dis- 
charge  your  javelins,    then    with    shield    and    sword 
complete  the  work  of  destruction.     The  victory  once 
won,  everything   will   be   yours."      The  speech  was 
received  with  such  enthusiasm  that  Suetonius  had  no 
doubt  of  the  result,  and  his  confidence  was  justified. 
Once  more  the  discipline  and  superior  arms  of  the 

way  in  which  the  animal  ran  was  supposed  to  give  an  augury  of  the 
future.  He  then  makes  her  talk  of  Nitocris  and  Semiramis  and  other 
unlikely  persons  and  things,  but  apologizes  by  making  her  say,  "  AU 
this  we  have  learnt  from  the  Romans." 

^  See  p.  59. 


Romans  were  found  irresistible.     At  first  the  legion 

kept  its  place,  contenting  itself  with  discharging  its 

heavy   missiles   against   the   crowded    ranks   of    the 

enemy.     Then  it  advanced  in  a  wedge- like  formation, 

breaking  through  the  hostile  line.     The  light-armed 

troops  followed,  and  the  cavalry  charged  from  either 

wing.     The  Britons  turned  and  fled,  or  would  have 

fled  but  that  the  waggons  blocked  the  way.     A  fearful 

massacre  followed.     Not  only  the  combatants,  but  the 

women  and  even  the  cattle  that  were  harnessed  to  the 

waggons  were  indiscriminately  slain.     It  is  said  that 

as  many  as  eighty  thousand  of  the  conquered  perished, 

while  the  victors  lost  less  than  a  thousand  in  killed 

and  wounded.     The  British  cause  was  lost.     Boadicea 

poisoned  herself  (one  account  says  that  she  died  of 

disease).     The  cowardly  commander  of  the  Second 

Legion  fell  upon  his  sword  when   he   heard  of  the 

glorious  victory  in  which  he  and  his  men  might  have 

had  a  share. 

Suetonius  did  not  fail  to  follow  up  his  victory. 
His  army  was  reinforced  from  Germany,  the  Ninth 
Legion,  in  particular,  having  its  vacant  ranks  filled  up. 
He  carried  fire  and  sword  over  the  whole  country, 
and  reduced  it  to  the  utmost  distress.  Still  the 
Britons  held  out.  Suetonius  indeed  was  unrelenting, 
and  held  out  no  inducement  to  surrender.  Then 
came  dissension  among  the  conquerors.  The  new 
Civil  Governor  difl'ered  from  the  general's  policy,  and 
hampered  his  action.  Nero  sent  one  of  his  freedmen 
to  arrange  the  dispute.  He  took  sides  against  Sue- 
tonius, who  seems  to  have  been  recalled  about  the  end 
of  the  year  (61). 


I 


cS  BOADICEA, 

For  the  next  ten  years  the  history  of  Britain  is 
little  more  than  a  blank.  Three  successive  com- 
manders, Petronius  Turpilianus  (62-65),  Trebellius 
Maximus  (65-69),  Vettius  Bolanus  (69-71),  were 
content  to  protect,  as  well  as  they  could,  the  territories 
already  acquired.  And  indeed  the  military  forces  at 
their  disposal  seem  to  have  been  greatly  diminished. 
The  Fourteenth  Legion  was  withdrawn  from  the  island 
by  Nero,  and  fought  on  Otho's  side  at  the  first  battle 
of  Bedriacum.i  Vitellius  had  weakened  the  three 
other  legions  by  drawing  the  veterans  from  their 
ranks.  These  troops  are  named  among  the  forces 
which  fought  for  him  in  the  second  battle  of  Bedria- 
cum.2  The  troops  that  were  left  must  have  had 
enough  to  do.  Indeed  Tacitus  says  of  them  that  no 
troops  behaved  more  blamelessly  during  the  whole  of 
the  civil  war.3  Their  remote  situation  had  something 
to  do,  he  thinks,  with  their  good  conduct,  but  it  was  still 
more  important  that  frequent  campaigns  taught  them 
to  see  their  enemies  in  foreigners,  not  in  their  own 
countrymen.  We  may  thus  infer,  and  indeed  we  are 
expressly  told,  that  the  island  was  not  quiet.  Tur- 
pilianus seems  to  have  been  inactive  ;  while  Trebellius 
made  himself  so  odious  by  his  avarice  and  other  vices 
that  he  had  to  fly  to  the  Continent. 

In  71  Vespasian,  feeling  himself  firmly  established 

»  The  first  battle  of  Bedriacum  was  fought  in  69  between  the  forces 
of  Otho  and  Vitellius. 
'  Fought  in  the  same  year  as  the  first  battle,  between  the  forces  of 

Vitellius  and  Vespasian. 

3  The  war  which  began  with  the  murder  of  Galba  in  January,  69, 
and  ended  with  the  establishment  of  Vespasian  on  the  throne  in  the 
December  of  the  same  year. 


STATE  OF  BRITAIN  IN  A.D.  7I. 


57 


on  the  throne,  sent  Cerialis,  a  kinsman  of  his  own,  of 
whom  we  have  heard  before,  to  take  the  command. 
Cerialis,  who,  as  we  shall  hear  in  the  next  chapter,  had 
an  able  lieutenant  in  Cn.  Julius  Agricola,  conquered  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  Brigantes, 
thus  advancing  the  Roman  frontiers  considerably  to 
the  northward.  In  75  he  was  succeeded  by  Julius 
Frontinus,  an  able  general,  who  found  it  necessary  to 
re-conquer  the  Silures.  Of  the  successor  of  Fronti- 
nus I  shall  speak  in  the  next  cliapter. 


E.OMAN    GATES   OF  CHESTliK. 


I 


56 


BOADICEA. 


For  the  next  ten  years  the  history  of  Britain  is 
little  more  than  a  blank.  Three  successive  com- 
manders, Petronius  Turpilianus  (62-65),  Trcbellius 
Maximus  (65-69),  Vettius  Bolanus  (69-71),  were 
content  to  protect,  as  well  as  they  could,  the  territories 
already  acquired.  And  indeed  the  military  forces  at 
their  disposal  seem  to  have  been  greatly  diminished. 
The  Fourteenth  Legion  was  withdrawn  from  the  island 
by  Nero,  and  fought  on  Otho's  side  at  the  first  battle 
of  Bedriacum.^  Vitellius  had  weakened  the  three 
other  legions  by  drawing  the  veterans  from  their 
ranks.  These  troops  are  named  among  the  forces 
which  fought  for  him  in  the  second  battle  of  Bedria- 
cum.2  The  troops  that  were  left  must  have  had 
enough  to  do.  Indeed  Tacitus  says  of  them  that  no 
troops  behaved  more  blamelessly  during  the  whole  of 
the  civil  war.3  Their  remote  situation  had  something 
to  do,  he  thinks,  with  their  good  conduct,  but  it  was  still 
more  important  that  frequent  campaigns  taught  them 
to  see  their  enemies  in  foreigners,  not  in  their  own 
countrymen.  We  may  thus  infer,  and  indeed  we  are 
expressly  told,  that  the  island  was  not  quiet.  Tur- 
pilianus seems  to  have  been  inactive  ;  while  Trebellius 
made  himself  so  odious  by  his  avarice  and  other  vices 
that  he  had  to  fly  to  the  Continent. 

In  71  Vespasian,  feeling  himself  firmly  established 

^  The  first  battle  of  Bedriacum  was  fought  in  69  between  the  forces 
of  Otho  and  Vitellius. 

^^  Fought  in  the  same  year  as  the  first  battle,  between  the  forces  of 

Vitellius  and  Vespasian. 

3  The  war  which  began  with  the  murder  of  Galba  in  January,  69, 
and  ended  with  the  establishment  of  Vespasian  on  the  throne  in  the 
December  of  the  same  year. 


STATE  OF  BRITAIN  IN  A.D.  7I. 


57 


on  the  throne,  sent  Cerialis,  a  kinsman  of  his  own,  of 
whom  we  have  heard  before,  to  take  the  command. 
Cerialis,  who,  as  we  shall  hear  in  the  next  chapter,  had 
an  able  lieutenant  in  Cn.  Julius  Agricola,  conquered  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  Brigantes, 
thus  advancing  the  Roman  frontiers  considerably  to 
the  northward.  In  75  he  was  succeeded  by  Julius 
Frontinus,  an  able  general,  who  found  it  necessary  to 
re-conquer  the  Silures.  Of  the  successor  of  Fronti- 
nus I  shall  speak  in  the  next  chapter. 


P.OMAN    GATES   OF  CHESTER. 


THE  ORDOVICES, 


59 


ill 


Si 


VII.  . 

AGRICOLA  IN   COMMAND. 

In  A.D.  jSy  the  Emperor  Vespasian,  who  had  him- 
self risen  to  the  throne  by  merit,  and  who  was  keen 
to  appreciate  it  in  others,  sent  Cnaeus  Julius  Agricola 
to  take  charge  of  the  province  of  Britain.  A  happier 
choice  could  not  have  been  made.  Agricola,  whose 
cife   has   been   told    by  his   son-in-law,   Tacitus   the 


I 


COIN   OF   VESPASIAN. 

historian,  in  what  is,  perhaps,  the  most  beautiful  of 
ancient  biographies,  was  a  great  soldier,  a  wise 
administrator,  and  a  gracious,  blameless  man.  It 
was  in  Britain  that  he  had  seen  his  first  service, 
holding  the  honorary  rank  of  tribune,  and  acting  as 


aide-de-camp  ^  to  Suetonius  Paulinus  in  that  general's 
expedition  to  Mona  and  conflict  with  Boadicea.  Ten 
years  afterwards  (A.D.  70),  he  had  returned  to  the 
island,  and  had  commanded  the  Twentieth  Legion 
under  the  Governors  Bolanus  and  Cerialis  with  great 
distinction  and  success.  Shortly  after  the  expiration 
of  his  term  of  command  he  had  been  appointed  to 
the  government  of  Aquitania  ;  ^  which  he  held  for 
between  two  and  three  years,  winning  golden  opinions 
by  his  moderation  and  integrity.  From  this  he  was 
recalled  to  take  up  the  consulship  at  Rome.3  in  the 
following   year  he  proceeded,  as  has  been  said,  to 

Britain. 

He  landed  in  the  summer.  The  Ordovices,  a  tribe 
occupying  the  country  now  known  by  the  name  of 
North  Wales,  had  almost  destroyed  a  force  of  auxiliary 
cavalry  stationed  in  their  country.  Military  affairs  in 
the  province  seem  to  have  been  somewhat  disorganized, 
and  it  was  doubted  whether  the  new  commander  would 
immediately  avenge  this  disaster.  The  summer  indeed 
was  over  before  he  was  in  a  position  to  march.  Even 
then  his  force  was  but  small.  But  he  acted  with 
vigour  and  boldness.     The  Britons  kept  to  their  hills, 

*  This  word  fairly  expresses  the  position  of  a  contubernalis^  literally 
a  "  tent  messmate."  Young  Romans  of  rank  were  sent  to  learn  soldier- 
ing under  some  general  of  repute.  They  lived  in  his  quarters,  and,  if 
they  showed  any  capacity,  were  employed  on  staff  duties. 

"^  Aquitania  was  a  province  of  Western  Gaul,  lying  between  the 
Garonne  {Garumna)  and  the  Loire  ^Liger).  The  name  was  corrupted 
into  Guienne. 

3  Agricola  appears  from  the  Fasti  Consulares  to  have  been  Consul 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  year  'j'j,  the  Emperor  Vespasian,  who  had 
held  the  office  from  the  beginning  of  the  year,  himself  making  way  for 
him. 


6o 


AGRICOLA   IN   COMMAND. 


but  he  attacked  them  on  their  own  ground,  and  almost 
destroyed  the  whole  tribe.  He  was  now  in  the  near 
neighbourhood  of  Mona,  and  resolved  to  complete  the 
conquest  of  the  island,  interrupted  eighteen  years 
before.^  His  plans  had  been  matured  in  haste,  and 
he  had  no  ships  in  which  to  transport  his  army.  He 
did  not  allow  this  to  stop  him.  He  had  in  his  force 
some  auxiliaries — probably  Batavi  from  the  Lower 
Rhine — who  were  particularly  skiUul  swimmers.  He 
gave  orders  to  these  that  they  were  to  enter  the  water 
and  cross  the  channel.  The  natives,  who  had  not 
imagined  that  an  enemy  without  boats  would  venture 
to  attack  them,  were  stupefied  by  his  boldness,  and 
surrendered  without  making  any  attempt  at  resist- 
ance. 

No  special  movements  of  the  troops  are  recorded 
as  having  taken  place  in  the  following  year.  Agricola^ 
however,  kept  his  army  employed,  and  continued  to 
complete  the  conquest  of  the  country  already  over- 
run by  the  Roman  arms.  But  he  was  chiefly  cm- 
ployed  in  pacifying  the  conquered  people  and  re- 
dressing: their  grievances.  "  The  experience  of  his 
predecessors  had  taught  him,"  says  Tacitus,  very 
probably  using  his  own  words,  "  that  little  could  be 
done  by  war,  except  the  causes  of  hostile  feeling  were 
rooted  out."  The  officials  employed  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  province  were  put  under  a  severe  control. 
No  business  of  importance  was  entrusted  to  freedmen 
or  slaves,  and  no  promotion  was  given  either  to  civilian 
or  soldier  except  for  merit,  while  various  gross  abuses 


H 
en 

35 
o 

J 

c/1 


•71 

< 
a 

2 

O 
X 

a 
o 

a. 
or 


I 


I 


'  See  p.  49. 


fl 


60 


AGRICOLA   IN   COMMAND. 


but  he  attacked  them  on  their  own  ground,  and  almost 
destroyed  the  whole  tribe.  He  was  now  in  the  near 
neighbourhood  of  Mona,  and  resolved  to  complete  the 
conquest  of  the  island,  interrupted  eighteen  years 
before.!  His  plans  had  been  matured  in  haste,  and 
he  had  no  ships  in  which  to  transport  his  army.  He 
did  not  allow  this  to  stop  him.  He  had  in  his  force 
some  auxiliaries — probably  Batavi  from  the  Lower 
Rhine— who  were  particularly  skilful  swimmers.  He 
gave  orders  to  these  that  they  were  to  enter  the  water 
and  cross  the  channel.  The  natives,  who  had  not 
imagined  that  an  enemy  without  boats  would  venture 
to  attack  them,  were  stupefied  by  his  boldness,  and 
surrendered  without  making  any  attempt  at  resist- 
ance. 

No  special  movements  of  the  troops  are  recorded 
as  having  taken  place  in  the  following  year.    Agricola 
however,  kept  his  army  employed,  and  continued  to 
complete  the  conquest  of  the  country  already  over- 
run by  the  Roman  arms.      But  he  was  chiefly  cm- 
ployed   in  pacifying  the  conquered    [)eople  and    re- 
dressing:  their   grievances.     "  The   experience  of  his 
predecessors   had    taught    him,"    says    Tacitus,    very 
probably  using  his  own  words,  "  that  little  could  be 
done  by  war,  except  the  causes  of  hostile  feeling  w^ere 
rooted  out."     The  officials  employed  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  province  were  put  under  a  severe  control. 
No  business  of  importance  was  entrusted  to  freedmen 
or  slaves,  and  no  promotion  was  given  either  to  civilian 
or  soldier  except  for  merit,  while  various  gross  abuses 


'  See  p.  49. 


♦.I 


:4 
t/i 

o 

-J 


n 

S 

< 

< 

O 

X 

Q 
b] 

O 

Oh 


I 


I 


62 


AGRICOLA  JN   COMMAND. 


from  which  the  subject  people  suffered  were  abolished.^ 
The  Britons  were  also  encouraged  to  adopt  the  habits 
of  civilization.  Their  towns  began  to  be  adorned 
with  temples  and  other  public  buildings  which,  to 
a  great  degree,  were  erected  at  the  expense  of  the 
treasury.  The  young  nobles  were  educated  in  the 
Roman  learning,  and  showed,  says  Tacitus  (again,  we 
may  conjecture,  quoting  an  opinion  of  his  father-in- 
law),  a  marked  superiority  in  ability  over  the  Gauls. 
They  were  even  initiated  into  the  luxuries  of  the  bath 
and  the  banquet,  and  so  were  taught  to  reconcile 
themselves  to  their  subject  condition. 
'  The  next  two  summers  were  spent  in  extending 
northwards  the  limits  of  the  Roman  dominion,  and  in 
strengthening  its  hold  upon  the  conquered  country. 
By  the  end  of  8i  a  line  of  forts  had  been  constructed 
between  the  estuaries  of  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde,  and 
Britain  to  the  south  of  that  line  was  to  all  appear 
ance  reduced  to  complete  submission. 

It  may  be  asked— indeed  the  historian  himself  sug- 
gests the  question — why  was  not  so  wise  and  humane 
a  ruler  satisfied  with  what  had  been  acquired,  and 
content  to  do  his  best  for  conquests  already  made, 
without  pushing  forwards  to  new.  "  The  glory  of  our 
name  and  the  valour  of  our  armies  forbade,"  says 
Tacitus.      Rome,    in    fact,    was    driven    on    by   the 

»  The  tribute,  which  was  levied  in  money  and  wheat,  had  been  made 
much  more  burdensome  than  was  necessary  by  the  exactions  of  the 
officials.  One  of  their  practices  was  to  require  the  delivery  of  the  speci- 
fied quantity  of  corn,  not  at  the  most  accessible  depot,  but  at  some 
remote  spot  to  which  transport  would  be  very  costly.  A  bribe  would 
be  demanded  before  a  more  convenient  arrangement  would  be  sanc- 
tioned. 


IRELAND   FIRST  MENTIONED  IN  HISTORY.      63 

necessity  which  never  allows  a  conquering  nation  to 
rest.  As  long  as  there  were  neighbours  unsubdued, 
there  were  always  fresh  provocations,  and  fresh 
reasons,  real  or  imagined,  for  hostilities.  The  armies, 
too,  had  to  be  employed.  The  throne  depended  upon 
their  good  will,  and  it  was  an  universal  experience 
that  the  more  constantly  they  were  engaged  with 
the  enemy,  the  more  quiet  and  steady  was  their 
loyalty. 

There  was  also  at  work  another  powerful  reason, 
which,  as  Tacitus  expressly  tells  us,  was  present  to 
the  mind  of  Agricola.  In  the  summer  of  82  he  had 
sailed  across  the  estuary  of  the  Clyde,  and  was  busy 
subjugating  what  is  now  known  as  the  Mull  of  Can- 
tyre.^  There  he  was  visited  by  a  petty  prince  from 
Ireland,  which  now  appears  for  the  first  time  in 
authentic  history.  His  guest  had  been  driven  from 
his  throne  by  some  rival  kinsmen,  and  applied  to  the 
Roman  commander  for  help  which  might  enable  him 
to  recover  it.  Agricola  was  disposed  to  entertain  the 
application,  and  kept  the  banished  prince  vvith  him 
for  some  time  in  the  hope  that  an  opportunity  might 
occur  for  making  him  useful.  Tacitus  continues,  "  I 
have  often  heard  him  say  that  Ireland  could  be  con- 
quered and  held  by  a  single  legion  and  a  moderate 
contingent  of  auxiliaries,  and  that  such  a  conquest 
would  help  greatly  to  consolidate  our  power  in  Britain. 
With  the  arms  of  Rome  everywhere,  freedom  would 
be,  so  to  speak,  out  of  the  sight  of  its  people."     It 

*  Tacitus'  words  are,  "That  part  of  Britain  which  looks  towards 
Ireland."  This,  of  course,  might  be  understood  of  Wigtown,  but  it 
seems  clear  that  the  country  north  of  the  Clyde  is  intended. 


Ir 


64 


AGRICOLA  IN  COMMAND. 


RECALL   OF  AGRICOLA. 


was  thus  not  only  the  actual  power  of  the  free  tribes 
beyond  their  borders,  but  the  contagious  example  of 
their  liberty  that  the  conquerors  feared.  Here  are  to  be 
found  the  motives  for  the  long  campaigns,  so  wasteful 
both  of  treasure  and  life,  which  they  fought  for  the 
possession  of  the  barren  mountains  of  Northern  Scot- 
land. 

As  my  subject  is  the  history  of  the  southern  part 
of  the  island,  I  will  pass  very  briefly  over  the  remain- 
ing campaigns  of  Agricola.  In  83  he  crossed  the 
Forth,  as  he  had  crossed  the  Clyde,  and  gained  some 
successes,  not,  however,  without  meeting  with  at  least 
one  heavy  loss  in  a  night  attack  on  one  of  his  legions. 
In  the  following  summer  he  pushed  further  to  the 
northward  and  westward,  till  he  met  the  confederated 
hosts  of  the  Caledonians  at  a  spot  now  known,  it  is 
believed,  as  Murdoch  Moor,  near  the  southern  spurs 
of  the  Grampians.i  The  Caledonians  were  commanded 
by  a  chieftain  whose  name  is  given  in  the  Latinized 
form  of  Calgacus.  Tacitus  puts  into  his  mouth  a 
splendid  piece  of  invective  against  the  tyranny  and 
greed  of  Rome,  while  he  attributes  to  Agricola  a  noble 
and  dignified  defence  of  the  empire  exercised  by  his 
country.  A  fierce  battle  occurred,  in  which  the  natives 
displayed  a  desperate  valour,  but  were  unable  to  make 
head  against  the  superior  arms  and  discipline  of  their 
antagonists,  and  suffered  a  total  defeat.  As  many  as 
ten  thousand  were  left  dead  on  the  field  of  battle. 
The  Romans  lost  three  hundred  and  sixty,  among 
whom  there  was  only  one  officer  of  rank. 


65 


This  great  victory  brought  the  career  of  Agricola 
to  a  close.  He  was  recalled  by  the  Emperor  Domi- 
tian,  whose  jealousy  had  been  roused  by  his  successes, 
and  left  the  island  before  the  end  of  the  year  (84), 


h 


.^^ 


^^ 


I  IMP  G^S*T^tM 


ls^M& 


,,W<M"f.ft 


^es^^^, 


INSCRIPTION   FOUND  AT  CASTLE  GARY. 


*  Murdoch  Moor  is  in  Aberfoyle  parish  in  Perthshire. 


^<>^ 


SOUTHERN  BRITIAN. 


67 


VIIT. 

THE   ROMAN    WALLS. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  after :  the  recall  of 
Agricola  the  history  of  Britain  is  almost  a  blank. 
We  know  that  the  successor  of  Agricola  was  one 
Sallustius  LucuUus,  and  that  Domitian,  in  a  fit  of 
jealousy,  put  him  to  death  because  he  had  allowed 
his  own  name  to  be  given  a  new  pattern  of  spear- 
head.^  But  the  most  important  passage  that  bears 
on  the  subject  occurs  in  Tacitus'  brief  review  of  the 
period  between  the  death  of  Galba  and  the  death  of 
Domitian.  "  Britain,"  he  says,  "  was  thoroughly  con- 
quered, and  immediately  left  to  itself."  The  "thorough 
conquest "  refers,  of  course,  to  the  campaign  of  Agri- 
cola.  The  word  which  I  have  translated  by  "  left  to 
itself,"  has  been  variously  interpreted.  Perhaps  this 
phrase  is  too  strong,  as  "  abandoned  "  certainly  would 

*  Suetonius,  who  tells  the  story,  calls  him  "  legale  of  Britain." 
Legatus,  in  its  strict  use,  meant  an  officer  who  assisted  the  governor  of 
a  province.  But  Tacitus  and  other  writers  of  the  Empire  use  it  as 
equivalent  to  governor,  and  so  I  take  it  in  this  passage.  , 


be.  Tacitus  probably  does  not  mean  more  than  that 
after  the  vigorous  action  of  Agricola  the  efforts  of 
Rome  slackened,  and  the  new  conquests  were  neg- 
lected. An  allusion  in  Juvenal  completes  our  scanty 
knowledge.  One  of  the  Emperor  Domitian's  flatterers 
says  to  him  :  "  You  will  take  prisoner  some  king,  and 
Arviragus  the  Briton  shall  be  struck  down  from  his 
chariot."  It  would  be  safe  to  infer  that  Arviragus  was 
an  enemy  of  Rome  at  some  time  during  Domitian's 
reign,  but  certainly  after  the  recall  of  Agricola,  i.e., 
some  time  between  84  and  96.    But  we  know  nothing 


COIN   OF    HADRIAN. 

else  about  him.      It  is  not  till  the  reign  of  Hadrian 
(1 17-138)  that  Britain  really  reappears  in  history. 

We  find  now  that  Southern  Britain,  roughly  speak- 
ing the  England  of  to-day,  with  which  my  story  is 
especially  concerned,^  has  been  thoroughly  subjugated. 
Whatever  disturbances  occur  hereafter  in  this  part  of 
the  island  until  the  time  when  the  Romans  leave  it  for 
good  come,  not  from  the  native  tribes,  but  from  the 
legions   themselves.      Works   of  peace  were  briskly 

'  But  in  later  times,  when  Britain  becomes  England,  the  Lowlands  of 
Scotland  as  far  as  the  Firth  of  Forth  are  included. 


68 


THE  ROMAN   WALLS. 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE    WALL. 


69 


J 


I 


carried  on,  roads  constructed,  towns  built  and  enlarged, 
lands  reclaimed  from  the  sea.  The  main  business  of 
the  Roman  armies  was  to  protect  the  province  from 
the  still  unconquered  tribes  of  the  north.  This  was 
chiefly  done  by  the  construction  of  huge  walls  across 
the  island  at  places  where  its  breadth  is  least. 

If  we  look  into  the  map,  we  see  that  one  such  place 
is  marked  almost  exactly  by  the  fifty-fifth  parallel  of 


THE    ROMAN    WALL   AT    BRUNTON. 

N.  latitude.  The  Solway  Firth  is  at  the  western  end  ; 
Newcastle-on-Tyne  at  the  eastern.  It  was  here  that 
the  first  wall  was  built — an  enormous  work,  exceeding 
in  magnitude  anything  of  the  kind  that  the  Romans 
constructed  elsewhere,  and  so  showing  the  value  which 
they  set  on  the  province  which  it  was  intended  to  pro- 
tect. It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  this  huge 
fortification  was  finished  at  once.  The  work  of  com- 
pleting and  strengthening  it  seems  to  have  been  going 


on  for  more  than  eighty  years,  for  an  inscription  has 
been  found,  in  a  quarry  which  was  worked  for  the 
stone,  that  gives  the  names  of  the  consuls  for  the  year 
207. 

It  was  in  120  that  the  work  was  begun.  In  that 
year  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  who  had  determined  to 
see  with  his  own  eyes  all  the  provinces  of  the  Empire, 
came  to  Britain.  His  policy  was  to  contract  rather 
than  to  extend  its  boundaries,  and  he  accordingly 
drew  the  line  of  fortification  far  within  the  limits  to 
which  the  Roman  conquests  had  been  pushed.  It 
consisted  of  Jive  parts  : — A   Trench,  a  Stone  Wall, 


COIN   OF  HADRIAN. 

Buildings  for  the  Troops,  a  Rampart  of  Earth,  Roads. 
In  this  enumeration,  it  must  be  remembered,  we  begin 
from  the  north. 

I.  T/ie  Trench.  This  keeps  close  to  the  northern 
side  of  the  wall,  though  it  has  been  discontinued  where 
the  wall  skirts  the  edge  of  a  cliff.  In  such  places  it 
would  have  not  given  any  additional  strength.  Every- 
where else  it  was  drawn  uninterruptedly,  whatever  the 
soil,  whether  earth  or  rock.  Its  dimensions  vary.  In 
one  place  its  depth  is  as  much  as  twenty  feet ;  but 
here  the  northern  edge  has  been  artificially  raised  by 


68 


THE  ROMAN   WALLS, 


CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE    WALL, 


69 


'■I 


carried  on,  roads  constructed,  towns  built  and  enlarged, 
lands  reclaimed  from  the  sea.  The  main  business  of 
the  Roman  armies  was  to  protect  the  province  from 
the  still  unconquered  tribes  of  the  north.  This  was 
chiefly  done  by  the  construction  of  huge  walls  across 
the  island  at  places  where  its  breadth  is  least. 

If  we  look  into  the  map,  we  see  that  one  such  place 
is  marked  almost  exactly  by  the  fifty-fifth  parallel  of 


THE  ROMAN  WALL  AT  BRUNTON. 

N.  latitude.  The  Solway  Firth  is  at  the  western  end  ; 
Newcastle-on-Tyne  at  the  eastern.  It  was  here  that 
the  first  wall  was  built — an  enormous  work,  exceeding 
in  magnitude  anything  of  the  kind  that  the  Romans 
constructed  elsewhere,  and  so  showing  the  value  which 
they  set  on  the  province  which  it  was  intended  to  pro- 
tect. It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  this  huge 
fortification  was  finished  at  once.  The  work  of  com- 
pleting and  strengthening  it  seems  to  have  been  going 


on  for  more  than  eighty  years,  for  an  inscription  has 
been  found,  in  a  quarry  which  was  worked  for  the 
stone,  that  gives  the  names  of  the  consuls  for  the  year 
207. 

It  was  in  120  that  the  work  was  begun.  In  that 
year  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  who  had  determined  to 
see  with  his  own  eyes  all  the  provinces  of  the  Empire, 
came  to  Britain.  His  policy  was  to  contract  rather 
than  to  extend  its  boundaries,  and  he  accordingly 
drew  the  line  of  fortification  far  within  the  limits  to 
which  the  Roman  conquests  had  been  pushed.  It 
consisted  of  Jive  parts  : — A   Trench,  a  Stone  Wall, 


COIN   OF   HADRIAN. 

Buildings  for  the  Troops,  a  Rampart  of  Earth,  Roads. 
In  this  enumeration,  it  must  be  remembered,  we  begin 
from  the  north. 

I.  The  Trench.  This  keeps  close  to  the  northern 
side  of  the  wall,  though  it  has  been  discontinued  where 
the  wall  skirts  the  edge  of  a  cliff.  In  such  places  it 
would  have  not  given  any  additional  strength.  Every- 
where else  it  was  drawn  uninterruptedly,  whatever  the 
soil,  whether  earth  or  rock.  Its  dimensions  vary.  In 
one  place  its  depth  is  as  much  as  twenty  feet ;  but 
here  the  northern  edge  has  been  artificially  raised  by 


k 


70 


THE   ROMAN    WALLS. 


earth  thrown  up  from  the  excavation.  Elsewhere  it 
is  less  than  nine.  Sometimes  it  is  as  much  as  forty 
feet  broad  at  the  top,  and  fourteen  at  the  bottom. 
The  average  has  been  given  as  "  thirty-six  feet  wide 

and  fifteen  feet  deep." 

2.   T/te  Wall.     This  was  seventy-three  miles  and  a 
half  in  length,  from  VVall's-End  in  the  east  to  Bowness 
on  the  west     It  was  carefully  constructed  of  stone, 
great  pains  having  been  evidently  bestowed  on  using 
the  most  suitable  kinds,  which  have  sometimes  been 
brought  from  a  distance.     The  line  which  it  followed 
was   purposely  drawn  so  as  to  take  in  the  highest 
ground.^     It   has    naturally  suffered    more    from  the 
effects  of  time  and  ravage  than  the  Trench,  and,  there- 
fore, we  are  not  so  certain  about  its  dimensions.     The 
Venerable    Bede,  who   lived   at   J  arrow,  near  to   its 
eastern  end,  says  that  it  was  eight  feet  in  breadth  and 
twelve  in  height.     Camden,  who  saw  it  in  1599,  says, 
"fifteen  feet  in  height  and  nine  in  breadth."     A  writer 
about  twenty-seven   years  earlier  says,  '*  The  height 
remains  in  some  places  yet  seven  yards,"  and  gives 
the  breadth  at  three  yards.     The  breadth,  of  course, 
is  much  the  same  as  it  was  at  first.      It  may  be  taken, 
on  an  average,  at  eight  feet,  and  perhaps  we  may  put 
the  average  height,  as  it  was,  at  eighteen. 

3.  Buildings  for  tJie  Troops.     These  are  of  the  three 

kinds  : 

a.  Camps  [stationes  or  castra  stativa)  were  con- 
structed at  intervals  of  four  miles  (on  an  average) 
along  the  line  of  the  wall.     They  were  four-cornered, 

«  The  highest  point  is  Winshields,  where  it  is  as  much  as  a  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 


0$ 
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a 

u 

< 

< 

u 


I 


C     ^ 

o 

t/3 


c4 


i 


1 


70 


THE   ROMAN   WALLS. 


earth  thrown  up  from  the  excavation,  l.lscwhcrc  it 
is  less  than  nine.  Sometimes  it  is  as  much  as  forty 
feet  broad  at  the  top,  and  fourteen  at  the  bottom. 
Theavera-c  has  been  given  as '*  thirty-six  feet  wide 

and  fifteen  feet  deep." 

2.    T/ir  WaH.     This  was  seventy-three  miles  and  a 
half  in  lenr^th,  from  Wall's-End  in  the  east  to  Howness 
on  the  we'st.     It  was  carefully  c(Mistructcd  of  stone, 
great  pains  having  been  evidently  bestowed  on  using 
the  most  suitable  kinds,  which  have  sometimes  been 
brought  from  a  distance.     The  line  which  it  followed 
was  "purposely  drawn   so  as  to   take  in  the   highest 
ground.^     It    has    naturally  suffered    more    from  the 
effects  of  time  and  ravage  than  the  Trench,  and,  there- 
fore, we  are  not  so  certain  about  its  dimensions.     The 
Venerable    Hede,  who    lived    at   J  arrow,   near  to    its 
eastern  end,  says  that  it  was  eight  feet  in  breadth  and 
twelve  in  height.     Camden,  who  saw  it  in  1599,  says, 
"fifteen  feet  in  height  and  nine  in  breadth."     A  writer 
about  twenty-seven   years  earlier  says,  ''  The  height 
remains  in  some  places  yet  seven  yards,"  and  gives 
the  breadth  at  three  yards.     The  breadth,  of  course, 
is  much  the  same  as  it  was  at  first.      It  may  be  taken, 
on  an  average,  at  eight  feet,  and  perhaps  we  may  put 
the  average  height,  as  it  luas,  at  eighteen. 

3.  Buildings  for  the  Troops.     These  are  of  the  three 

kinds  : 

a.  Camps  ^stationcs  or  castra  stativd  were  con- 
structed at  intervals  of  four  miles  (on  an  average) 
along  the  line  of  the  wall.     They  were  four-cornered, 

*  The  highest  point  is  Winshields,  where  it  is  as  much  as  a  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 


■f. 


N 
^     >, 


4 


72 


THE  ROMAN   WALLS, 


including  a  space  varying  from  five  acres  and  a  half  to 
three-quarters  of  an  acre.   Each  was  fortified  with  a  wall 
and  trench  of  its  own.  Commonly  the  Great  Wall  serves 
as  the  north  wall  of  the  camp  ;  but  sometimes  the  camp 
has  a  north  wall  of  its  own.     These  must  have  been 
built  before  the  Great  Wall,  it  may  be  supposed  to 
shelter  the  troops  and  workmen  who  were  engaged  m 
the  work.    Three  stand  at  some  distance  to  the  south 
These  may  have  been  forts  built  by  Agricola.     Each 
had  four  gates,  streets  crossing  each  other  at  right 
angles    after  the    fashion  of  Roman  camps,   and,  it 
would' seem,  suburbs   for   the  camp   followers      No 
traces   of  ornamental    building,   like   the    tesselated 
pavements  to  be  seen  at  Silchester  camp,  are  to  be 

discovered.  . 

d  Mile-castles  (caste/la)  were  built  at  average  inter- 
vals  of  a  Roman  mile  ^  along  the  wall.  Sometimes 
they  occur  more  frequently,  when  a  river  or  a  moun- 
tain  pass  is  traversed,  a  castle  being  commonly  placed 
to  guard  the  defile.  These  also  are  four-cornered, 
measuring  fifty  feet,  or  an  average,  from  north  to 
south,  and  sixty  from  east  to  west.  These  were  part 
of  the  wall,  being  of  the  same  masonry,  and  having  it 
for  their  northern  defence.  They  had  gates  in  the 
centre  of  their  northern  and  southern  sides. 

c  Between  each  mile-castle,  four  Turrets  or  Watch- 
Towers   were   built,  standing   therefore   about  three 
hundred  yards  apart.     These  may  be  called  sentry- 
boxes.     Very  little  is  now  left  of  them,  but  enough 
to  show  that  they  were  very  strongly  built. 

4.   T/ie  Rampart  (Valluvi),     This  fortification  con- 

»  A  Roman  mile  measured  1,618  yards. 


MILITARY  ROADS. 


73 


sists  of  a  trench  and  three  earthern  walls.  One  of 
these  walls  stands  between  the  Great  Wall  and  the 
trench ;  a  second  is  close  upon  the  southern  edge  of 
the  trench  ;  the  third  is  as  far  from  it  to  the  south  as 
the  first  is  to  the  north.  The  first  and  third  are  larger 
than  the  second.  Their  original  dimensions  cannot 
be  recovered  ;  but,  as  they  still  stand  six  or  seven  feet 
high,  they  were  doubtless  considerable.  A  good  deal 
of  stone  has  been  used  in  their  construction.  The 
trench  seems  to  have  been  somewhat  smaller  than  that 
which  was  drawn  on  the  north  side  of  the  Great  Wall. 
The  Vallum  is  not  always  close  to  the  Wall.  It  follows 
an  easier  line  of  country,  whereas,  as  has  been  said, 
the  wall  takes  in  by  choice  the  most  difficult  and 
steepest  spots.  It  does  not  reach  along  the  whole 
length  of  the  Wall,  but  is  about  three  miles  short  of  it 
at  either  end. 

5.  TJie  Roads,     Of  these  there  were  two. 

a,  A  military  way  ran  along  the  whole  length  of 
the  Wall,  between  it  and  the  Rampart.  It  was  twenty 
feet  wide  on  an  average,  and  was  constructed  of 
stone.  It  did  not  always  keep  close  to  the  wall,  but 
took  the  shortest  route  from  one  camp  to  another.  It 
was  intended,  of  course,  for  the  rapid  and  easy  trans- 
port of  troops  and  stores  from  one  point  of  the  Wall 
to  another,  according  as  they  might  be  needed. 

b.  A  road  ran  to  the  south  of  both  Wall  and 
Vallum,  and  afforded  additional  accommodation, 
available  when  hostilities  were  not  actually  going  on. 

This  gigantic  work,  Wall,  Camps,  Rampart,  and 
Roads  (reckoning  only  the  inner  way)  constituted  one 
great  camp,  which  might  be  used  against  enemies  on 


74 


THE  ROMAN   WALLS. 


either  side.  For  it  is  not  constructed  as  if  the  country 
to  the  south  were  permanently  friendly.  There  are 
no  outlets  in  the  Vallum  southward,  except  by  the 
regular  gates  of  the  Camps.  It  must  have  required 
at  least  ten  thousand  men  to  garrison  it,  and,  doubt- 
less, could  have  accommodated,  on   an   emergency, 

many  more. 

A   second    line   of    defence    was    constructed    by 
Antoninus    Pius,    Hadrian's    successor.       This    ran 
between  the  Firth  of  Forth  and  the  Firth  of  Clyde, 
and  joined  together  the  line  of  forts  built  about  sixty 
years  before  by  Agricola.     It  consisted  of  a  trench, 
which  was  forty  feet  wide  and  twenty  deep,  and  a 
rampart,  constructed  close  to  the  southern  edge  of  the 
trench,  which  was  twenty  feet  high  and  twenty-four 
feet  thick.     Other  forts  were  built,  so  that  the  inter- 
vals   between   them   did   not   exceed   two   miles   in 
length,  and  it  was  arranged   that  each  should  be  in 
sicrht  of  its  next  neighbour.     On  the  southern  side  of 
the  rampart  was  a  platform  for  the  soldiers,  and  be- 
hind this  again  ran  a  military  way,  twenty  feet  wide. 
Some    remains    of  this    work    are    still    to  be  seen. 
They  are  known  by  the  name  of  "  Graham's  Dyke." 
The   Vallum  Antonifti,  as  it  is  called,  was  built  by 
Lolllus  Urbicus  between  140  and  145.     Urbicus  com- 
manded the  forces  in   Britain  for  twenty  years,  and 
pushed  the  Roman  conquests  in  Northern   Britain  as 
far  as  the  Moray  Firth.     Of  the  events  of  the  next 
fifty  years  we  know  very  little,  though  we  hear  of  an 
inroad  of  the  northern  tribes,  who  broke  through  the 
rampart  of  the  Upper  Isthmus,^  and  were  with  diffi- 
'  That  between  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde. 


IS\MMnl  f/,\ 


*n/»e  /«. 


ROMAN   MILITARY  ALTAR. 


74 


THE  ROMAN   WALLS. 


either  side.  For  it  is  not  constructed  as  if  the  country 
to  the  south  were  permanently  friendly.  There  are 
no  outlets  in  the  Vallum  southward,  except  by  the 
regular  gates  of  the  Camps.  It  must  have  required 
at  least  ten  thousand  men  to  garrison  it,  and,  doubt- 
less, could  have  accommodated,  on   an   emergency, 

many  more. 

A   second    line   of    defence    was    constructed    by 
Antoninus    Pius,    Hadrian's    successor.       This    ran 
between   the  Firth  of  Forth  and  the  Firth  of  Clyde, 
and  joined  together  the  line  of  forts  built  about  sixty 
years  before  by  Agricola.     It  consisted  of  a  trench, 
which  was  forty  feet  wide  and  twenty  deep,  and  a 
rampart,  constructed  close  to  the  southern  edge  of  the 
trench,  which  was  twenty  feet  high  and  twenty-four 
feet  thick.     Other  forts  were  built,  so  that  the  inter- 
vals   between    them    did    not   exceed    two   miles   in 
length,  and  it  was  arranged   that  each  should  be  in 
sicrht  of  its  next  neighbour.     On  the  southern  side  of 
the  rampart  was  a  platform  for  the  soldiers,  and  be- 
hind this  again  ran  a  military  way,  twenty  feet  wide. 
Some    remains    of  this    work    are    still    to  be  seen. 
They  are  known  by  the  name  of  "  Graham's  Dyke." 
The   Vallum  Antonini,  as  it  is  called,  was  built  by 
LolHus  Urbicus  between  140  and  145.     Urbicus  com- 
manded the  forces  in   Britain  for  twenty  years,  and 
pushed  the  Roman  conquests  in  Northern   Britain  as 
far  as  the  Moray  Firth.     Of  the  events  of  the  next 
fifty  years  we  know  very  little,  though  we  hear  of  an 
inroad  of  the  northern  tribes,  who  broke  through  the 
rampart  of  the  Upper  Isthmus,^  and  were  with  diffi- 
»  That  between  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde. 


«r/twa  /#. 


ROMAN   MII.ITARY  ALTAR. 


if 


&! 


76 


THE  ROMAN   WALLS. 


I 


culty  repelled  by  the  General  Ulpius  Marcellus.  This 
was  in  the  year  184,  under  the  reign  of  Commodus, 
the  vicious  successor  of  the  philosophic  Aurelius. 

The  history  of  Clodius  Albinus,  the  successor  of 
Marcellus  in  the  command  of  the  British  armies  shows 
the  growing  importance  of  Britain   among  the  pro- 
vinces  of  the  Empire.     It  was  to  Rome,  what  India 
has   been   to    itself    in    recent   times,   the   "nursery 
of  captains."     No  legions  had  more  active  employ- 
ment   no   generals   had  better  opportunities  of  dis- 
tinguishing  themselves,  and  winning  the  confidence 
of   their   troops.     Albinus   became   so   important   a 
person  that  the  Emperor  Commodus  offered  him  the 
title  of  Csesar.i  The  honour  was  declined,  and  Albinus 
soon  after  lost  the  favour  of  Commodus  by  denoun- 
cing him   as  a   tyrant.     He  was  superseded    in    his 
command,  but  was  strong  enough  to  keep  it  in  spite 
of  the  Emperor.    Septimius  Severus,  who  came  to  the 
throne  in    I93>  again  offered  him  the  title  of  C^sar. 
This  time  it  was  accepted.     But  Severus  only  meant 
to  deceive  a  rival  with  whom  he  did  not  feel  himself 
at  the  moment  strong  enough  to  contend.      His  first 
idea  was  to  get  rid  of  him  by  assassination,  for  he 
sent  very  kindly  letters  by  the  hand  of  messengers 
who   had   secret   instructions   to   demand  a   private 
audience  of  the  general  and  to  stab  him  to  the  heart. 
The  plot  failed,  but  Albinus  saw  that  he  must  fight  for 
his  life.     He  crossed  over  to  the  mainland,  taking  with 
him  a  part  of  his  army,  and  encountered  Severus  near 
Lugdunum  (Leyden).     In  the  battle  that  followed  the 

«  This   would  mean  a  rank   which   may  be    described  as    -Vice- 
Emperor,"  and  it  would  imply  the  right  of  succession  to  the  throne. 


SEVERUS   VISITS  BRITAIN. 


77 


British  legions  maintained  their  high  reputation.  At 
one  moment  it  seemed  likely  that  Severus  would  be 
defeated.  But  he  rallied  his  troops,  and  the  day 
ended  with  a  decisive  victory  for  him.  Albinus  was 
captured  and  put  to  death.  He  was  the  first,  as  we 
shall  see,  of  a  long  line  of  pretenders  to  the  throne, 
who  mostly  came  to  a  violent  end. 

Early  in    208  Severus  himself  visited    the  island 
The   northern    tribes    had  continued   to   trouble   the 
peace  of  the  settled  province,  and  he  was  resolved  to 
punish  them,  and  not  sorry,  at   the   same  time,  to 


COIN    OF   ANTONINUS    PIUS. 


employ  his  army  and  the  two  young  princes,  his  sons, 
in  active  service.  He  marched  accordingly  north- 
wards, and  reached,  it  is  said,  the  very  extremity  of 
the  island.  The  natives  did  not  attempt  to  meet  him 
in  the  field,  but  they  laid  ambuscades,  and  harassed 
the  rear  and  flanks  of  his  army.  The  hardships  and 
diflficulties  of  the  expedition  were  enormous.  We 
can  imagine  what  a  place  the  Highlands  of  Scotland 
must  have  been  for  a  regular  army  to  traverse  when 
there  were  no  roads,  and  the  country  was  largely 
covered  with  forest.    The  labours  of  the  march,  and  of 


78 


THE  ROMAN   WALLS. 


m 


the  works  in  the  way  of  bridges  and  causeways  that 
had  to  be  constructed,  the  wet  and  the  cold,  for  the 
expedition  was  prolonged  into  the  winter,  caused  a 
terrible  mortality  among  the  troops.     When  at  last 
the  Caledonians  begged  for  peace,  delivering  up  some 
of  their  arms  and  yielding  a  portion  of  their  territory, 
Severus  had   lost   as  many  as  fifty  thousand   men. 
And  he  had  gained   nothing.     No   sooner  was  the 
legion  withdrawn  to  the  south  than  the  native  tribes 
again  rebelled.     Severus,  who  was  then  at  Eboracum 
(York)  swore  that  he  would   exterminate  them,  and 
began  to  prepare  for  a  new  expedition.     He  did  not 
live  to  fulfil  this  purpose.     He  had  suffered   greatly 
from  illness  during  the  expedition,  and  his  malady 
now  increased    upon   him,   being   aggravated,   it    is 
said,  by  the  ill  behaviour  of  his  son,  Caracalla.     He 
died  at  Eboracum  in  2  lo.     The  permanent  memorial 
that  he  left  behind  him  of  his  stay  in  Britain  was  the 
strengthening  of  the  Vallum   Antonini  by  a  second 
wall.     We  may  assign  to  this  period  the  height  of  the 
Roman    dominion    in    Britain.     Its  extent  and    the 
provinces  into  which  it  was  subdivided  are  exhibited 
in  Map  1. 


IX. 


THE  TYRANTS. 


The  middle  of  the  third  century  was  a  period  of 
great  depression  in  the  Roman  Empire,  and  the  reign 
of  Gallienus  (260-268)  marks  its  lowest  point.  This 
prince  had  been  associated  by  his  father,  Valerian,  in 
the  Empire.  In  260  Valerian  was  conquered  and  put 
to  death  by  the  Parthian  king,  Sapor,  and  his  death 
was  the  signal  for  frightful  disorders.  A  number  of 
pretenders,  to  whom  the  historians  of  the  next  century 
gave  the  name  of  "  The  Thirty  Tyrants,"  ^  started  up 
in  various  provinces  of  the  East  and  West.  Several 
of  these  usurpers  rose  to  power  in  Gaul,  and  these 
seem  to  have  included  Britain  in  the  dominions  which 
they  acquired  and  lost  in  rapid  succession.  The  rise 
of  the  first  of  these,  Latinius  Postumus,  dates  indeed 
from  before  the  fall  of  Valerian.  He  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  that  emperor  to  defend  the  Rhine  frontier, 
had  taken  offence  at  some  slight,  and  proclaimed  his 
independence.  This  he  maintained  for  nine  years. 
In  267  he  was  overthrown  by  one  Laelianus.     Lae- 

'  The  original  "  Thirty  Tyrants  "  were  a  committee  of  thirty  members 
which  ruled  at  Athens  when  the  democratic  government  of  that  State 
was  for  a  time  (404  B.C.)  changed  into  an  oligarchy. 


8o 


THE  TYRANTS. 


lianus  was  slain  by  his  own  soldiers  in  the  same  year. 
Victorinus,  who  succeeded  him,  fell  a  victim  to  private 
vengeance  in  the  year  following.     His  mother,  Vic- 
toria, succeeded  him  in  his  power,  but  handed  it  over 
first   to  one  Marius,   an    armourer,    and    then,  when 
Marius  had  gone  the  way  of  his  predecessors,  to  Caius 
Tetricus.     After  Tetricus  had   held  power  for  three 
years,  Aurelian,  a  vigorous  soldier,  worthy  of  the  best 
days  of  Rome,  conquered  him.     It  seems  indeed  that 
Tetricus  was  not  unwilling  to  be  conquered,  and  that 
he  betrayed  his  army  to  his  opponent.     It  is  certain 
that  his  fate  was  very  different  from  that  commonly 
reserved  for  unsuccessful  usurpers.      He  and  his  son 
were  exhibited  indeed  in  Aurelian's  triumph,  but  they 
were  aftenvards  treated  with  kindness  and  even  dis- 
tinction.    The  father  lived    to  an   advanced    age  in 
retirement ;  the  son  was  promoted  to  high  offices  in 
the  state.     It  is  certain,  however,  that  during   their 
period  of  power  the  island  ceased  to  be  part  of  the 
Roman    Empire.     Many   of  their   coins   have   been 
found,  and  those  of  Tetricus  are  very  common  among 
Romano-British  remains. 

Britain,  recovered  by  Aurelian,  did  not  remain  long 
in  its  allegiance.  For  some  time  its  southern  and 
eastern  shores,  as  well  as  the  northern  shore  of  Gaul, 
had  been  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  pirates,  who 
issued  from  the  harbours  of  the  North  Sea,  and  pos- 
sibly even  of  the  Baltic— the  first-comers  of  the 
swarms  of  invaders  who,  under  the  names  of  Franks, 
Saxons,  Danes,  and  Normans,  were  to  work  such  a 
change  on  the  face  of  Northern  and  Western  Europe, 
and  even  to  make  themselves  felt  as  far  as  Constanti- 


ROMAN   VASE   OF    DARK   BROWN   CAISTOR   WARE. 

(From  the  original  in  iJie  British  Afusemm.) 


8o 


THE   TYRANTS. 


lianus  was  slain  by  his  own  soldiers  in  the  same  year. 
Victorinus,  who  succeeded  him,  fell  a  victim  to  private 
vengeance  in  the  year  following.  His  mother,  Vic- 
toria, succeeded  him  in  his  power,  but  handed  it  over 
first  to  one  Marius,  an  armourer,  and  then,  when 
Marius  had  gone  the  way  of  his  predecessors,  to  Caius 
Tetricus.  After  Tetricus  had  held  power  for  three 
years,  Aurelian,  a  vigorous  soldier,  worthy  of  the  best 
days  of  Rome,  conquered  him.  It  seems  indeed  that 
Tetricus  was  not  unwilling  to  be  conquered,  and  that 
he  betrayed  his  army  to  his  opponent.  It  is  certain 
that  his  fate  was  very  different  from  that  commonly 
reserved  for  unsuccessful  usurpers.  He  and  his  son 
were  exhibited  indeed  in  Aurelian's  triumph,  but  they 
were  afterwards  treated  with  kindness  and  even  dis- 
tinction. The  father  lived  to  an  advanced  age  in 
retirement ;  the  son  was  promoted  to  high  offices  in 
the  state.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  during  their 
period  of  power  the  island  ceased  to  be  part  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  Many  of  their  coins  have  been 
found,  and  those  of  Tetricus  are  very  common  among 
Romano-British  remains. 

Britain,  recovered  by  Aurelian,  did  not  remain  long 
in  its  allegiance.  For  some  time  its  southern  and 
eastern  shores,  as  well  as  the  northern  shore  of  Gaul, 
had  been  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  pirates,  who 
issued  from  the  harbours  of  the  North  Sea,  and  pos- 
sibly even  of  the  Baltic— the  first-comers  of  the 
swarms  of  invaders  who,  under  the  names  of  Franks, 
Saxons,  Danes,  and  Normans,  were  to  work  such  a 
change  on  the  face  of  Northern  and  Western  Europe, 
and  even  to  make  themselves  felt  as  far  as  Constanti- 


is 


'        I 


i 


4 


ROMAN   VASE   OK    DARK    IJROWN   CAISTOR   WARE. 

(From  the  original  in  iJie  British  Museum,) 


J 


82 


THE   TYRANTS. 


nople  in  the  East.  It  was  found  necessary  to  have 
a  fleet  to  keep  these  marauders  in  check,  and  the 
officer  who  had  the  command  of  it,  and  whose  special 
task  it  was  to  protect  the  British  and  Gallic  coasts, 
bore  the  title  of  "  Count  of  the  Saxon  Shore."  ^  The 
Count  had  his  head-quarters  at  Gessoriacum,  or 
Bononia,  now  called  Boulogne,  as  a  convenient  place 
for  protecting  the  entrance  to  the  Channel.  In  287 
a  certain  Carausius  held  this  office,  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Maximianus,  colleague  of  Diocletian  in  the 
Empire.     Indeed,  it  seems  likely  that  he  was  the  first 

to  hold  it. 

Carausius  was  a  native  of  the  country  now  known 
as  Holland.  He  had  risen  from  the  ranks  by  his 
ability  and  courage,  and  his  ambition  was  still  un- 
satisfied. He  made  use  of  his  new  office  to  further 
it.  If  the  writers  attached  to  the  cause  of  his  enemies 
are  to  be  believed — and  we  know  nothing  about  his 
actions  and  character  except  from  them — he  made 
compacts  with  the  pirates  by  which  they  were  per- 
mitted to  pass  westward  on  condition  of  giving  him 
a  part  of  their  gains.  By  the  wealth  thus  gained  he 
strengthened  his  position,  making  alliances  with  bar- 
barian tribes,  and  equipping  his  fleet  in  the  most 
effective  manner.     When  he  openly  rebelled  we  can- 

»  It  is  not  a  little  puzzling  to  be  told  that  a  part  of  the  coast  derived 
its  name  from  the  tribes  which  were  in  the  habit  of  ravaging  it.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  some  at  least  of  its  inhabitants,  especially  in  Gaul, 
were  Saxon.  But  the  matter  is  obscure,  and  to  discuss  it  would  take 
me  too  far  from  the  purpose  of  this  volume.  It  may  be  sufficient  to 
quote  Gibbon's  note :  "  Aurelius  Victor  calls  them  Germans.  Eu- 
tiopius  gives  them  the  name  of  Saxons.  But  Eutropius  lived  in  the 
ensuing  century,  and  seems  to  use  the  language  of  his  own  time." 


FRESH  EXPEDITION   TO   BRITAIN.  ' 


83 


not  say,  but  it  is  certain  that  he  was  independent  in 
the  year  28y. 

Diocletian  and  his  colleagues  had  already  so  much 
on  their  hands  that  they  could  not  deal  with  this  new 
trouble.  For  some  years  Carausius  was  left  alone, 
and  even  recognized  as  an  additional  colleague  by 
the  emperors.  But  when  Constantius,  a  vigorous 
young  soldier,  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  Caesar  ^ 
(March  11,  291),  an  effort  was  made  to  recover  the 
province  of  Britain.  An  orator  of  the  time  speaks 
of  its  fertile  fields,   its  rich   mines,  its  convenient 


COIN   OF  CARAUSIUS. 

harbours,  with  an  idea,  doubtless,  of  magnifying  the 
prince  who  had  recovered  it,  but,  of  co.urse,  not  with- 
out some  foundation  of  truth.  Anyhow,  it  was  thought 
worthy  of  an  expedition.  Constantius  set  about  his 
task  with  such  speed  that  his  arrival  on  the  field  of 
action  was  altogether  unexpected.  He  began  by 
besieging  Bononia,  which  the  naval  and  land  forces 
of  Carausius  held  in  force.  The  mouth  of  the 
harbour  was  blocked  up,  and  the  place,  which  Carau- 

*  The   arrangement   of  Diocletian   was   that   there   should    be   tv  o 
Augusti  and  two  Caesars,  who  may  be  described  as  emperors  and  vice 
emperors. 


If  '4' 


84 


THE   TYRANTS. 


sius  was  unable  to  relieve  with  his  fleet,  surrendered. 
Constantius    was   obliged    to    be    content   with   this 
success.     He  had  no  ships  with  which  to  cross  over 
into   Britain.     This   want,    however,    seems  to  have 
been  supplied  during   the  winter,  for  the  next  year 
(292)  he  actually  started  for  the  island.    Bad  weather, 
however,  drove  him  back,  and  the  expedition  had  to 
be  abandoned.    Whether  Carausius  was  again  acknow- 
ledged by  the  Augusti  we  do  not  know.     In  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  was  murdered  by  one  of  his  lieutenants, 
Allectus  by  name,  who  assumed  the  title  of  Augustus. 
For   three   years  Allectus   seems   to  have  been   left 
alone,  though  it  is  difficult  to  form  any  definite  idea 
of  what  happened  from  the  very  unsatisfactory  nar- 
ratives that  have  come  down  to  us.^     In  297  Con- 
stantius made  another  effort  to  recover  Britain.     The 
forces  of  the  expedition  seem  to  have  been  divided 
into  two  parts,  one  under  the  command  of  an  officer 
named  Asclepiodotus.  the  other  led  by  Constantius 
himself.     The  fleet  of  Allectus  was  posted  near  the 
island    of  Vectis    (Isle   of  Wight)   to  intercept   the 
invaders.     Asclepiodotus  passed  it  unobserved  in  a 
fog,  landed  in  Britain,  and  to  make  retreat  impossible, 
burnt  his  ships.^     Constantius,  with  the  other  detach- 

'  One  writer  in  Smith's  "  Dictionary  of  Classical  Biography  "  speaks 
of  Allectus  having  been  subdued  "  after  a  struggle  of  three  years  "  (Art. 
Constantius)  ;  another  (Art.  Allectus),  of  the  army  and  fleet  of  Con- 
stantius having  been  sent  against  him  at  the  end  of  three  years.  The 
latter  is  the  impression  left  on  my  mind  by  the  language  of  a  contem- 
porary writer,  the  author  of  the  Panegyric  on  Maximian  and 
Constantius. 

*  So  the  Panegyrist  quoted  above  asserts,  but  the  statement  has  an 
improbable  look. 


A  BLANK  IN  HISTORY. 


85 


ment,  also  made  his  way  to  the  island  unhindered. 
Allectus,  in  flying  from  him,  encountered  Asclepio- 
dotus, and  was  defeated  and  slain.  Some  of  the 
vanquished  army,  which,  we  are  told,  consisted  largely 
of  Franks,  made  their  way  to  Londinium,  and  were 
busy  in  plundering  it,  when  Constantius  arrived  with 
his  troops  and  drove  them  away.  Britain  was  thus 
restored  to  the  Empire.  The  Panegyrist  tells  us  that 
one  happy  result  of  this  event  was  that  the  Frankish 
pirates,  whom  Carausius  and  Allectus  had  made  no 
effort  to  check,  intent,  as  they  probably  were,  on 
maintaining  their  own  position,  were  no  longer  per- 
mitted to  ravage  the  western  coasts  of  Europe. 

Constantius  spent  much  of  the  remainder  of  his  life 
in  Britain.  In  309,  on  the  abdication  of  Diocletian 
and  Maximian,  he  succeeded  to  the  rank  of  Augustus, 
and  in  the  following  year  (July  25th)  he  died  at 
Eboracum,  when  he  was  preparing  to  start  on  an 
expedition  against  the  northern  tribes.  It  was  at 
Eboracum  that  his  son  Constantine,^  the  first  Christian 
Emperor,  was  proclaimed  Augustus. 

We  know  very  little  about  the  history  of  the  island 
during  the  next  hundred  years  ;  but  the  little  that  has 
been  recorded  shows  that  the  causes  which  had  led  to 
the  usurpation  of  Carausius,  the  remoteness  of  the 
province  and  the  weakness  of  the  central  authority, 
were  still  in  active  operation.  In  fact,  we  are  told 
little  by  the  historians  beyond  the  names  of  successive 
usurpers.    When  Magnentius  was  proclaimed  Emperor 

*  Constantine  was  the  son  of  Constantius  by  his  first  wife  Helena. 
Helena  has  often  been  spoken  of  as  a  British  princess.  She  really  was 
the  daughter  of  a  tavern-keeper  at  Antioch. 


.iCii 


■'t' 


86 


THE    TYRANTS. 


DEFEAT  AND   DEATH   OF  MAXIM  US. 


87 


in  350,  Britain  formed  part  of  his  dominions,  and  it 
passed  again  into  the  hands  of  the  home  authorities 
at  his  fall  three  years  later.  Paullus,  surnamed  Catena, 
a  notary  of  the  Court,  was  sent  by  Constantius  11.  to 
regulate  its  affairs,  after  the  repression  of  the  re- 
bellion, and  is  said  to  have  been  guilty  of  many 
exactions  and  cruelties. 

Meanwhile  the  northern  tribes  had  been  growing 
more  and  more  troublesome.  The  Emperor  Constans 
(337-350)  is  said  to  have  marched  against  them,  but 
we  know  nothing  beyond  the  bare  fact.  Constantius 
II.  (337-361)  sent  another  force  against  them  towards 
the  end  of  his  reign.  No  permanent  success  was 
attained  Their  attacks  became  more  formidable,  and 
the  Roman  forces  suffered  several  defeats.  In  369,how- 
ever,  Valentinian  I.  sent  into  the  island  Theodosius, 
one  of  the  ablest  of  his  generals.  The  Picts  and 
Scots  (for  by  these  two  names  the  northern  tribes 
were  chiefly  known)  seem  by  this  time  to  have  pene- 
trated to  the  very  south  of  the  island.  Theodosius 
encountered  them  several  times  on  his  way  from  the 
coast  to  London.  This  town,  which  had  been  in 
danger  of  capture,  received  him  very  gladly.  After 
some  time  spent  in  settling  the  affairs  of  the  country, 
he  marched  northwards,  fought  two  campaigns  against 
the  tribes,  and  drove  them  beyond  the  barrier  of 
Antoninus.  The  country  lying  between  this  and  the 
Great  Wall  was  organized  into  a  province,  and  received 
the  name  of  Valentia.' 

'  It  is  probably  a  poetical  exaggeration  in  Claudian,  when  he  talks  of 
Thule  and  the  Orcades  (Shetland  and  Orkney)  being  stained  with 
Pictish  blood.  It  is  very  unlikely  that  Theodosius  pushed  his  conquests 
so  fai. 


In  383  the  armies  of  the  West  rose  against  Gratianus, 
who  had  offended  them,  not  only  by  neglecting  the 
affairs  of  the  State  for  the  pleasures  of  the  chase, 
but  by  choosing  barbarian  guards  and  even  wearing 
barbarian  dress.  They  offered  the  purple  to  Maximus, 
who  was  living  in  retirement  in  Britain,  and  who  is  said 
by  some  to  have  belonged  to  a  noble  family  of  the 
island.  Maximus  (whom  the  contemporary  poet 
Ausonius  speaks  of  as  "  the  brigand  of  Rutupiae  ") 
crossed  over  into  Gaul,  and  marched  against  Gratianus, 
who  was  killed  on  Aug.  23  near  Lugdunum  (Lyons). 
Theodosius  L,  son  of  the  Theodosius  who  has  been 
previously  mentioned,  was  now  in  possession  of  the 
eastern  part  of  the  Empire,  and  Valentinian  IL  was 
the  colleague  of  his  elder  brother  Gratianus  in  the 
West.  These  two  princes  did  not  feel  themselves 
strong  enough  to  attack  Maximus,  who  was  permitted 
to  retain  possession  of  Western  Europe  for  four  years. 
In  387  he  attempted  to  add  Italy  to  his  dominions.  At 
first  he  was  successful,  for  Valentinian  fled  to  Thessa- 
lonica.  But  in  388  Theodosius,  who  had  taken  up  the 
cause  of  the  fallen  emperor,  invaded  Italy,  and 
defeated  Maximus  in  two  battles.  Maximus  fled 
across  the  Alps,  was  captured  at  Aquileia,  and  put  to 
death  by  the  soldiers. 

About  six  years  later  we  hear  of  the  great  general 
Stilicho  winning  victories  over  the  Picts  in  Britain. 
It  seems,  however,  probable  that  he  never  actually 
landed  in  the  island,  but  that  the  report  of  his 
approach  was  sufficient  to  make  the  invaders  retreat. 

Early  in  the  next  century  we  hear  of  a  certain 
Marcus   being  proclaimed   emperor  by  the    soldiers 


PT 


! 


1 


88 


THE   TYRANTS. 


of  Britain,  of  his  being  succeeded  very  soon  by  a 
Gratianus,  who  is  described  as  a  "  townsman  of 
Britain,"  of  Gratianus  himself  being  assassinated 
after  a  reign  of  four  months,  and  of  being  succeeded 
by  a  Constantinus.  Con^tantinus  is  said  to  have  been 
a  common  soldier  at  the  time  of  his  elevation,  and 
to  have  owed  it  to  the  accident  of  his  name.  He 
appears,  however,  to  have  been  a  man  of  some  ability, 
or,  anyhow,  to  have  had  able  advisers  about  him.  In 
408  he  crossed  over  into  Gaul,  and  established  his 
power  over  that  country  and  Spain.  He  was  even 
recognized  as  Augustus  by  Honorius,  then  Emperor 
of  the  West,  but  did  not  maintain  his  position  for 
more  than  two  or  three  years. 

The  removal  of  the  troops  from  Britain  by  Con- 
stantinus the  Usurper  was  probably  the  real  end  of  the 
Roman  occupation  of  the  island.  Three  years  after- 
wards (410)  Honorius  addressed  a  rescript  to  the 
"  Cities  of  Britain  "  by  which  he  relaxed  the  Julian 
Law  against  the  carrying  of  weapons,  and  commanded 
the  Britons  to  defend  themselves.  Still  Britain  was 
formally  recognized  as  one  of  the  provinces  of  the 
Empire.  As  late  as  537  Belisarius  granted  it  to  the 
Goths  in  the  name  of  the  Emperor.  In  fact,  however, 
it  had  long  passed  out  of  Roman  power.  In  446  the 
Britons,  pressed  hard  by  the  Saxon  invaders,  begged 
for  help  from  Aetius,  the  great  general  who  held 
Attila  in  check  ;  but  the  request  was  refused.  Britain 
had  now  to  shift  for  herself;  to  tell  how  she  fared  is 
my  next  business. 

Before  I  pass  to  it,  however,  the  question,  What  did 
the  Romans  leave  behind  them  in  Britain  ?  may  be 


INFLUENCE   OF  THE  ROMANS   ON  BRITAIN.        89 

very  briefly  answered,  or  rather  noticed,  for  to  answer 
it  is  impossible.  The  fact  is  that  few  matters  in  the 
region  of  history  are  more  obscure.  One  thing  is 
tolerably  plain,  that  there  has  been  no  continuity  of 
Roman  life  in  this  country  such  as  may  be  traced  in 
Italy,  in  Spain,  in  France.  Each  of  these  countries 
has  been  swept,  and  swept  many  times,  by  invasion, 
but  there  has  always  remained  an  element  of  popula- 
tion strong  enough  to  keep  up  the  continuity  of  life. 
Perhaps  the  languages  of  the  Latin  countries  as  they 
are  called  as  compared  with  English  affords  the  most 
significant  illustration.  There  is  a  large  Latin 
element  in  English,  not  speaking,  of  course,  of  that 
which  it  inherits  together  with  Latin  from  a  common 
ancestor.  But  this  element  is  of  later  introduction. 
In  Early  English  it  may  almost  be  said  not  to  exist. 
In  the  languages  of  Italy,  Spain,  and  France,  this 
Latin  element  occupies  a  quite  different  position  ;  it 
is  the  foundation  of  them,  not  an  alien  element. 

There  are  two  other  questions,  both  closely  con- 
nected with  this,  which  have  been  debated  with 
no  little  vehemence.  How  far  did  the  Romans 
influence  the  life  of  the  British  population  ?  How 
far  did  the  British  population  survive  the  English 
invasion  ?  If  we  believe  that  the  Britons  were 
annihilated  by  the  invaders  then  it  is  easy  also  to 
believe  that  they  had  been  thoroughly  Romanized. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  a  considerable  element  survived, 
then  we  should  expect  to  find  a  larger  trace  of 
Roman  influence  in  the  life  of  early  England. 

On  one  point  we  can  speak  with  certainty.  The 
Roman  occupation  of  the  island  was  complete.     The 


f 


BIG  NOR  AND  CHEDWORTH. 


91 


[■    ! 


Ih 


1 


ROMAN    TESSELATEU    PAVEMENT. 


^The  finest  specimen  yet  discovered  in  Em^land.      7 he  dark  portion  is 
the  original ^  the  light  portion  is  the  restored.) 


remains  of  their  houses,  their  camps,  their  worship, 
their  domestic  life,  literally  abound.^  Nor  was  this 
occupation  simply  military.  It  is  sufficient,  for  proof 
of  this,  to  point  to  the  remains  of  such  houses  as  are 
to  be  seen  at  Bignor  (near  Chichester),  and  Chedworth 
in  Gloucestershire.  It  is  clear  that  wealthy  Romans 
took  up  their  abode  in  this  island  ;  and  wealthy  men 
do  not  live  in  a  country  that  is  not  thoroughly  settled. 
But  how  far  their  influence  touched  the  native  popula- 
tion remains,  and  probably  must  remain,  unknown. 

^  Any  one  who  wants  a  proof  of  this  should  study  Mr.  G.  L. 
Gomme's  "  Romano- British  Remains."  Two  volumes  are  filled  with 
accounts  of  the  discoveries  of  Roman  remains.  And  this  is  only  a 
selection.  Probably,  too,  a  great  number  of  discoveries  have  never 
been  recorded  at  all. 


ROMAN    RUINS,    LINCOLN. 


F 


i.-r»-H»~ 


mmamm 


mitmmm 


f 

! 
! 
t 


9    ^|^|gJ|g||||jg||§l(^aBr«™-— *-™- — '-      -■-       ■— - — -  

I  rar-^  F^nirralFrSilfrSirrSlfrSirf^ 

!  [M^^lMMilMilMMsM 


-^^'-^^■-'^^'-*-'-'-'-'-^'-^^ 


S>:[iLiflaI^ilgtilill 


#  '  '  ^  ■■■.      -^TW.* 


SW!2ft5?5?^^ 


ROMAN    TESSELATEl)    rWKMKM. 

{The  finest  specimen  yet  discoihred  in  En.iland.      1  he  dark  pot  lion  is 
the  original,  the  li^ht  portion  is  the  restored,) 


BIGNOR   AND   CHEDWORTH, 


91 


remains  of  their  houses,  their  camps,  their  worship, 
their  domestic  life,  literally  abound. ^  Nor  was  this 
occupation  simply  military.  It  is  sufficient,  for  proof 
of  this,  to  point  to  the  remains  of  such  houses  as  are 
to  be  seen  at  Bignor  (near  Chichester;,  and  Chedworth 
in  Gloucestershire.  It  is  clear  that  wealthy  Romans 
took  up  their  abode  in  this  island  ;  and  wealthy  men 
do  not  live  in  a  country  that  is  not  thoroughly  settled. 
But  how  far  their  influence  touched  the  native  popula- 
tion remains,  and  probably  must  remain,  unknown. 

*  Any  one  who  wants  a  proof  of  this  should  study  Mr.  G.  L. 
Gomme's  "  Romano- British  Remains."  Two  voUimes  are  filled  with 
accounts  of  the  discoveries  of  Roman  remains.  And  this  is  only  a 
selection.  rrol)ably,  too,  a  great  number  of  discoveries  have  never 
been  recorded  at  all. 


ROMAN    RUINS,    LINCOLN. 


^Il 


i   I 

f 

i  : 
I 

t 


1 1 


'■'  I 


THE  LEGEND   OF   VORTIGERN. 


9j 


X. 


THE   ENGLISH   CONQUEST. 

In  speaking  of  Britain  before  the  Romans,  I  made 
no  mention  of  the  legend  in  which  Brutus,  the  great- 
grandson  ot  ^neas,  is  said  to  have  given  his  name 
to  Britain.  Widely  believed  as  it  was  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  it  is  manifestly  a  fable  from  beginning  to  end. 
We  cannot  say  the  same  of  the  legend  which  has 
for  its  hero— perhaps  I  should  rather  say  its  chief 
character — Vortigern,  the  betrayer  of  Britain.  This, 
it  can  scarcely  be  doubted,  has  at  least  the  basis  of 
truth.  There  is  no  reason  for  disbelieving  in  the 
existence  of  a  Vortigern.  This  legend,  then,  I 
shall  therefore  briefly  tell  before  passing  on  to  the 
history. 

The  Legend  of  Vortigern. 

"Vortigern,  King  of  Kent,  seeing  that  the  Picts 
troubled  him  by  land  and  the  Saxons  by  sea,  thought 
to  himself,  *  I  shall  do  well  if  I  can  set  these  robbers 
the  one  against  the  other.'  So  he  spake  to  one 
Hengist,  their  chief.  'Let  us  make  alliance  to- 
gether:' and  to  this  Hengist  consented,  and  he  made 


a  feast  to  which  he  called  King  Vortigern.  Now 
Hengist  had  a  daughter  Rowena,  who  was  exceeding 
fair,  and  the  maiden  stood  at  the  board  and  served 
the  king  with  mead.  When  the  king  looked  upoh 
her,  he  loved  her ;  and  he  said  to  Hengist,  for  his 
reason  had  gone  from  him,  *  Give  me  the  maid  to 
wife,  and  I  will  give  you  the  kingdom  of  Kent'  To 
this  Hengist  consented  ;  but  the  nobles  of  the  land 
would  not  have  the  stranger  to  rule  over  them. 
Therefore  thiy  put  down  Vortigern  from  his  place, 
and  made  Vortimei  his  son  king  in  his  stead.  And 
Vortimer  fought  against  Hengist  and  the  Saxons  ; 
three  times  he  fought  against  them,  till  he  drove  them 
out  of  the  land.  Then  for  five  years  Hengist 
wandered  over  the  sea  in  his  ships.  But  when  the 
five  years  were  past,  Vortimer  died,  and  Vortigern 
was  made  king  as  he  had  been  before.  Thus  said 
Hengist  to  him,  'Give  me  the  kingdom,  according 
to  your  promise.'  Vortigern  answered  him,  '  Let 
me  ask  counsel  of  my  nobles.'  So  the  nobles  as- 
sembled themselves  three  hundred  in  all,  and  for 
every  British  noble  there  was  also  a  Saxon  chief. 
But  as  they  sat  together,  Hengist  cried  aloud,  *  Draw 
your  daggers  ! '  and  as  he  spake,  each  Saxon  smote 
the  Briton  that  sat  by  his  side,  and  slew  him.  So 
the  three  hundred  fell  in  one  day  all  save  King 
Vortigern,  for  him  they  spared  by  command  of 
Hengist.  And  after  this  the  strangers  held  the  land 
without  further  question." 

When  we  pass  from  legend  to  history,  we  find  our- 
selves in  what  may  be  called  a  kind  of  twilight.  It 
is  not  wholly  dark,  but  the  light  is  dim  ;  it  shows 


i  ( 


■i  f. 


94 


THE  ENGLISH  CONQUEST. 


HENGIST  AND  HORSA, 


95 


;        S 


9    ^ 

I 


only  a  few  great  facts  that  are  unquestionably  true, 
perhaps  a  few  figures  that  are  the  fig^f^  of  men  who 
really  lived.  ^^T-^^*" 

The  first  coming  of  the  English  Is  assigned  to  the 
year  449.     "  Hengist  and  Horsa,  invited  by  Vortigern, 
King  of  the  Britons,  sought  Britain  ;  first  in  support  of 
the  Britons,  but  afterwards  they  fought  against  them." 
These  are  the  words  of  the  shortest  and,  we  may  sup- 
pose, the  earliest  form  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle. 
A  longer  form  gives  us  some  more  particulars,  the 
truth  of  which  there  is  no  reason  for  doubting,  that 
the  reason  why  King  Vortigern  asked  the  help  of  the 
two  chiefs,  leaders  as  they  were  of  a  people  that  had 
harried  the  shores  of  Britain  for  centuries,  was,  that 
they  might  help  him  against  the  Picts,  and  that  they 
came  with  three  ships,  and  that  they  were  rewarded 
for  their  service  with  land  in  the  south-east  of  the 
island.      Further  on  it   adds  that  these  first-comers 
were  Jutes,  dwellers,  i.e.,  in  the  country  which  is  still 
known  by  the  name  of  Jutland.     Both  forms  of  the 
Chronicle  give  the  name  of  the  place  were  Hengist 
and  Horsa  landed  as  "Ypwines  fleot,"  or  "Heopwines 
fleot."     There  is  little  difficulty  in  making  out  that 
this  is  Ebbsfleet,  near  Ramsgate,  in  the  district  which 
is  still  called  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  and  which  was  then 
separated  from  the  mainland  by  a  channel,  navigable 
at  high  water  by  ships,  and  at  low  water  to  be  crossed 
only  by  a  single  ford. 

For  some  years  Vortigern's  new  friends  were  con- 
tent to  remain  in  the  place  which  had  been  allotted 
to  them.  At  first,  indeed,  they  were  not  strong 
enough  to  venture   upon   any  other  course.      The 


1 

-1 


crews  of  three  ships,  even  if  these  were  of  the  largest 
size,  could  scarcely  have  numbered  more  than  five 
hundred  men,  and  so  small  a  force  did  not  think  it 
worth  their  while  to  turn  against  those  who  fed  and 
paid  them.  Meanwhile  they  were  growing  stronger. 
*'  They  sent,"  says  the  Chronicler,  "  to  the  Angles  ; 
and  bade  them  be  told  of  the  worthlessness  of  the 
Britons,  and  the  richness  of  the  land."  And  the 
writer  goes  on  to  describe  how  there  came  men 
from  the  three  tribes  of  Germany,  from  the  Old 
Saxons,  the  Angles,  and  the  Jutes.  Doubtless  this 
refers,  as  far  as  its  mention  of  the  Old  Saxons  and 
Angles  is  concerned,  to  a  later  time ;  but  we  may  feel 
sure  that  a  report  of  the  good  land  on  which  they 
had  settled,  and  of  the  ease  with  which  it  might  be 
won,  was  carried  across  the  sea  to  their  kinsman  in 
Jutland.  Six  years  after  their  first  landing  they  were 
strong  enough  to  move.  When  we  next  hear  of 
them  they  are  some  way  from  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  of 
which  the  westward  boundary  is  the  Stour.  In  455, 
"  Hengist  and  Horsa  fought  with  Vortigern  the 
King  on  the  spot  that  is  called  Aylesford.''^  The 
battle,  we  may  guess,  was  fiercely  contested,  for 
Horsa  was  slain.  "  Hengist  afterwards  took  to  the 
kingdom  with  his  son  Esc."  Two  years  afterwards 
we  hear  of  another  battle.  By  this  time  the  invaders 
have  made  their  way  still  further  westward,  for 
"  Hengist  and  Esc  fought  with  the  Britons  on  the  spot 
that  is  called  Cray  ford, ^  and  there  slew  four  thousand 
men."     The  battle  ended  in  a  decisive  victory  for  the 

'  Aylesford  is  on  the  Medway  about  four  miles  below  Maidstone. 
'  The  Cray  is  a  little  stream  which  falls  into  the  Darent. 


-»*«fei»w»iiWi>^.iiwMaj'^^ 


ag!t^Si«i^i«il#>«r««^ttmw^aM 


If  I 


fl  i 


i 
t 


■•I 


96 


TH£   ENGLISH  CONQUEST. 


Jutes.  "  The  Britons  then  forsook  the  land  of  Kent, 
and  in  great  consternation  fled  to  London."  We 
shall  find  London  serving  again  and  again  as  a  safe 
shelter  when  the  descendants  of  these  invaders  were 
themselves  invaded  from  the  sea. 

Then,  if  the  chronicles  of  the  British  may  be 
trusted,  came  a  change  of  fortune.  The  unlucky 
prince,  who  had  called  in  these  dangerous  allies  to 
his  help,  and  was  now  unable  to  resist  them,  was 
overthrown  by  another  enemy,  Aurelius  Ambrosianus, 
a  Roman  by  descent.  Aurelius,  having  conquered 
his  rival,  turned  his  arms  against  the  invaders,  and 
drove  them  back  into  the  territory  which  they  had 
first  occupied.  For  the  eight  years  between  457  and 
465  the  Chronicle  is  a  blank.  Then  comes  the  record 
of  another  battle,  fought  at  a  place  called  "  Wippeds- 
fleet,"  from  the  name  of  a  Jutish  chief,  who  fell 
there.  It  ended  in  a  complete  victory  for  the 
invaders.  "  This  year  Hengist  "^nd  Horsa  fought 
with  the  Welsh.i  nigh  Wippedsfleet  ;  and  there  slew 
twelve  leaders,  all  Welsh."  After  another  great 
interval  of  silence,  came  in  473  the  record  of  another 
great  victory.  "This  year  Hengist  and  Esc  fought 
with  the  Welsh,  and  took  immense  booty.  And  the 
Welsh  fled  from  the  English  like  fire."  Then  was 
founded  the  first  of  the  English  kingdoms,  Kent. 
Hengist  is  said  to  have  ruled  it  until  the  year  479, 
and  to  have  been  succeeded  by  his  son  Esc,  from 
whom  the  line  of  Kentish  princes  received  the  title 
of  Escings. 

'  Welsh  means  "  foreigner":  the  invaders,  by  a  strange  yet  common 
figure  of  speech,  calling  the  native  people  •'  foreigners." 


1 

4 


(( 


THE   WOOD  CALLED   ""  ANDREDSWEALD, 


)» 


97 


If  this  date  be  correct,  the  first  German  conqueror 
was  still  alive  when  the  second  came  across  the  sea  to 
attack  another  part  of  the  island.  In  477  "came  Ella 
to  Britain  with  his  three  sons,  Cymen,  and  Wlenking, 
and  Cissa,  in  three  ships,  landing  at  a  place  that  is 
called  Cymen's-ora.  There  they  slew  many  of  the 
Welsh  ;  and  some  in  flight  they  drove  into  the  wood 
that  is  called  Andredsweald."  Ella  was  a  Saxon, 
and  in  him  we  have  the  first  of  another  of  the  three 
German  tribes,  which  were  to  join  in  the  making 
of  England.  When  we  first  hear  of  the  Saxons ^  they 
must  have  been  near  neighbours  of  the  Jutes,  for  they 
are  described  as  dwelling  in  the  country  now  known 
as  Holstein.  But  between  that  time  and  the  date  of 
their  first  coming  to  Britain  they  must  have  shifted 
their  quarters  southward  and  westward  to  the  region 
occupied  by  Oldenburg  and  Hanover.  Their  wander- 
ings in  search  of  plunder — for  these,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, were  the  rovers  against  whom  the  Count 
of  the  Saxon  Shore  ^  had  to  defend  the  coasts  of 
Britain  and  Gaul — took  them  far  afield;  and  they 
seem  to  have  made  settlements  along  the  southern 
coasts  of  the  North  Sea  and  even  of  the  Channel. 
The  growing  power  of  the  Franks,  driving  them  back 
to  their  old  boundaries,  may  have  been  one  of  the 
causes  which  led  to  their  following  the  example  of 
their  Jutish  kinsmen. 

The  Welsh,  who  fled  into  the  "  great  wood  that  is 
called  Andredsweald,"  made  a  stubborn  resistance. 
The  region  was  then,  as  it  became  again  long  after- 

'  In  the  second  century  of  our  era,  from  the  geographer  Ptolemy, 
«  See  p.  3a. 


I  \t 


•? 


98 


THE  ENGLISH  CONQUEST, 


THE   WEST  SAXONS  IN  BRITAIN. 


99 


wards,  the  scene  of  a  busy  manufacture  of  iron/  and  the 
natives  were  a  sturdy  race  and  plentifully  supplied  with 
arms.     They  had,  too,  in  Anderida  2  a  strong  fortress 
built  by  those  skilful  engineers  the  Romans.     In  485 
"Ella  fought  with  the  Welsh  nigh  Mercred's-Burn- 
sted,"  a  spot  which  we  may  identify  with  Lye.     The 
Chronicler  does  not  claim  a  victory  for  his  countrymen. 
Anyhow,  five  years  more  were  to  pass  before  the  work 
was  completed.     In  490  "  Ella  and  Cissa  besieged  the 
city  Aiidred,  and  slew  all  that  were  therein  ;  nor  was 
one  Briton  left  there  afterwards."  "  They  so  destroyed 
the  place,"  writes  a  chronicler  nearly  eight  centuries 
later,  "  that  it  was  never  afterwards  rebuilt  ;  only  the 
site,  as   of    a  very   fair   city,  is  to  be  seen,  utterly 
desolate,  by  those  that  pass  by.'*     Sussex,  the  land  of 
the  South   Saxons,  was  the   second  of  the  English 
kingdoms. 

The  dates  of  the  other  settlements  of  the  invaders 
cannot  be  fixed  with  even  such  probability  as  we  are 
able  to  attain  in  the  two  cases  already  mentioned.  It 
will  be  convenient  to  speak  first  of  those  which  were 
made  by  the  Saxons  properly  so  called. 

Under  the  year  495  the  Chronicler  writes  :  "  This 
year  came  two  leaders  into  Britain,  Cerdic  and 
Cynric,  his  son,  with  five  ships,  at  a  place  that  is 
called  Cerdic's-ore.3  And  they  fought  with  the  Welsh 

*  The  Sussex  iron  works  continued  in  op)eration  till  nearly  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  After  that  date  the  trade  was  transferred 
to  the  coal  districts  of  Midland  and  Northern  England.  The  iron 
railings  that  surround  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  in  London  were  manufactured 
at  Sussex  forges. 

'  From  Pevensey  about  four  miles  eastward  of  Eastbourne. 

3  The  mouth  of  the  Itchen,  now  Southampton. 


that  same  day."  Six  years  afterwards  he  tells  us  how 
one  Porta  and  his  two  sons  landed  at  a  place  that  is 
now  called  Portsmouth,  and  then  again,  after  an 
interval  of  seven  years,  Cerdic  and  Cynric  reappear  in 
the  record  that  they  "slew  a  British  king  whose  name 
was  Natan-leod,  and  five  thousand  men  with  him." 
Whether  or  no  Netley,  near  Southampton,  was  really 
called  after  this  British  prince,  as  the  Chronicler 
asserts,  the  mention  of  this  place  marks  the  scene  of 
the  conflict.  It  was  so  near  the  spot  where  the  two 
Saxon  chiefs  had  landed  twelve  years  before  that  we 
may  safely  conclude  that  in  the  interval  the  invaders 
had  made  but  little  progress.  Indeed  six  years  after- 
wards  we  hear  how  the  "West  Saxons  came  into 
Britain  with  three  ships,"  at  the  very  place— Cerdic's- 

ore where  they  are  said  to  have  landed  at  their  first 

coming.  But  this  time  they  had  new  allies  with  them. 
"  Stuf  and  Wihtgar  fought  with  the  Britons  and  put 
them  to  flight."  Stuf  and  Wihtgar  were  Jutes,  and 
they  ultimately  received  as  the  price  of  their  help  the 
Isle  of  Wight  and  a  portion  of  territory  on  the  main- 
land.i  During  the  five  years  which  the  Chronicler 
passes  over  in  silence  a  fierce  conflict  was  doubtless 
being  waged  between  the  West  Saxons  and  the  native 
tribes.  We  are  told  only  of  its  end.  Under  the  year 
521  we  read  :  "This  year  Cerdic  and  Cynric  under- 
took the  government  of  the  West  Saxons ;  the  same 


'  Bede,  in  his  "Ecclesiastical   History,"  i.    15,   says   "Of  Jutish 

}(chV  race  are  the  men  of  guitfei'bwty  and  the  men  of  Vectis  (Vectuarii),  that 

is,  the  race  which  inhabits  the  island  of  Vectis,  and  that  which  up  to 

this  very  time,  in  the  provinces  of  the  West  Saxons,  is  caUed  Jutland, 

lying  over  against  the  island  of  Vectis." 


If 


lOO  THE   ENGLISH   CONQUEST. 

year  they  fought  with  the  Britons  at  a  place  now 

called  Charford."  ^ 

The  Chronicler  is  as  unwilling  as  historians  have 
commonly  shown  themselves  to  record  defeats,  and 
we  have  to  gather  from  other  sources  the  true  story  of 
what  followed  the   battle  of  Charford.      The  West 
Saxons  (Gezuissas  as  they  appear  to  have  been  called) 
pursued  their  conquests  in  the  region  now  know  as 
Hampshire  and  Somersetshire.     But  in  the  next  year 
they  met  with  a   decisive  defeat,  which  for  a  time 
checked  their  northward  progress.     The  Britons  met 
them  at  Badon  Hill  (near  Bath  i,  and  inflicted  on  them 
a  crushing  defeat.     It  is  in  this  battle  that  the  great 
British  champion,  Arthur,  seems  to  come  for  an  instant 
out  of  the  darkness  with   which   he   is  surrounded. 
The  fight  at  Badon  Hill  is  the  one  event  in  his  long 
struggle  with  the  invaders  which    seems    historical. 
We  hear,  too,  of  details  of  the  conflict  which  may 
indeed  be  due  to  the  fancy  of  the  bards  who  sang  in 
after-days  of  the  glories  of  the  great  national  hero, 
but  have  a  certain  look  of  reality.     The  Britons,  we 
are   told,   occupied  the   upper   part  of  the  hill,  the 
•   Saxons  with  their  host,  formed  like  a  wedge,  stood 
below.     For  the  whole  of  the  first  day  the  heathen 
host  remained   firm  ;    on  the  second,  the  desperate 
valour  of  Arthur  and  his  people  broke  through  the 
lines,  and  for  a  time  Western  Britain  was  saved. 

Whatever  may  be  the  truth  about  Badon  Hill,  it  is 
certain  that  for  some  time  after  their  victory  of  Char- 
ford  Cerdic  and  his  Saxons  made  no  further  advance 

'  Charford  is  on  the  Lower  Avon,  and  about  ten  miles  south  of 
Sali^urji 


THE  ANGLES, 


lOI 


■ 


inland.  We  hear  indeed  of  their  fighting  one  battle 
atCerdic'sCeal  in527;  and  three  years  afterwards 
we  find  them  subduing  the  Isle  of  Wight  and  handing 
it  over  to  the  two  Jutish  chiefs.^  The  death  of  Cerdic 
is  assigned  to  the  year  534,  and  his  son  is  said  to  have 
succeeded  him,  and  to  have  reigned  for  twenty-seven 
years  over   the   kingdom   of  the   West    Saxons,   or 

Wessex. 

Two  smaller  settlements  of  the  same  tribe,  it  must 
be  sufficient  to  mention,  as  we  know  nothing  about 
the  time  of  their  making  or  the  manner  in  which  they 
were  made.     London,  which  had  resisted  the  advance 
of  the  Jutish  conquerors  of  Kent,  seems  to  have  fallen 
before  the  attack  of  some  Saxon  invaders,  who  after- 
wards, from  their  inland  position,  received  the  name 
of  the   Middle   Saxons,   a    name   still   preserved    m 
Middlesex.     To  the  north  and  east  of  them,  in   the 
region  now  called  Essex,  yet  another  colony  from  the 
same   stock,  the   East    Saxons,   found   a  habitation. 
Both  states  remained  small  and  unimportant. 

The  third  great  stock  of  the  German  conquerors  of 
Britain  was  the  most  important  of  the  three,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  fact  that  it  ultimately  gave  its  name 
to  the  island.  The  Celtic  populations  among  us  speak 
indeed  of  their  Teutonic  neighbours  as  Saxons,  but 
the  land  of  the  English,  the  Angles,  is  the  name  by 
which  the  country  is  known  in  history  and  to  the 
world  in  general.  Yet,  curiously  enough,  we  know 
less  of  the  Angles  than  we  do  either  of  the  Jutes  or 

^  Stuf  and  Wihtgar  are  described  as  "  nephews  "  of  Cerdic.  If  this 
be  so  Cerdic  must  have  married  a  Jutish  wife.  This  is  an  easy  way  of 
accounting  for  the  aUiance  of  the  two  tribes. 


J 


102 


THE  ENGLISH  CONQUEST. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  NORTHUMBRIA. 


103 


the   Saxons.      Tacitus  indeed   mentions   the  Angli, 
with  other  tribes,  as  dwelling  in  a  remote  and  in- 
accessible   region,   but   gives  no   particulars.      Fifty 
years  afterwards,  Ptolemy  speaks  of  them  as  inhabiting 
part  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Elbe.     Later  on,  we  find 
them  located  in  the  Cimbric  peninsula,^  between  the 
Jutes  and  the  Saxons.     It  is  from  this  country  that 
Bede  speaks  of  them  as  migrating  when  they  followed 
their  neighbours  to  Britain,  and  this  in  such  numbers 
that  their  original  country  was  left  wholly  without 
inhabitants.2     There  is  still  a  corner  of  land  called 
Angelis  in  Sleswick,  lying  a  little  to  the  north  of  the 
harbour  of  Kiel.     But  there  are  writers  of  no  small 
authority  who  hold  that  there  was  no  real  difference 
between  Angles  and  Saxons.  It  is  certain  indeed  that 
they  were  closely  related  ;  but  for  the  purpose  of  the 
present  volume  it  will  suffice  to  accept  the  commonly 
received  division,  and  to  speak  of  the  Angles  as  the 
third,  and  probably  the  strongest,  of  the  three  stocks. 
Of  the  conquest   of  the   Angles   we  know   little 
beyond  the  results.     North  of  the  East  Saxons  and 
south  of  the  Wash  was  a  region  in  which,  as  we  have 
reason  for  thinking,  some  German  settlers  had  already 
taken  up  their  abode.     This  was  occupied  by  one 
colony  of  Angles  which  afterwards  divided  itself  into 
two  portions,  respectively  called  the  North  and  South 
Folk.3     The  first  king  of  the  East  Angles  is  said  to 

'  By  the  "  Cimbric  peninsula  "  is  meant  the  projecting  piece  of  land 
containing  Holstein,  Sleswick,  and  Jutland. 

«  It  is  curious  to  find  Bede  speaking  of  this  country  as  "  vetus  Anglia," 
Old  England.  We  have  in  this  a  st.ll  older  England  than  the  country 
which  now  commonly  bears  the  name. 

3  Norfolk  and  Suffolk. 


i 


i 


\ 


4 


have  been  one  Uffa,  who  gave  his  name  to  a  line  of 
princes  known  as  Uffings. 

North  of  the  Wash  was  the  country  once  dominated 
by  the  Roman  colony  of  Lindum.^  Lindum  was  no 
more  able  to  hold  out  against  the  invaders  than 
London  had  been.  But  the  new-comers  took  their 
name  from  the  stronghold  which  they  had  conquered, 
and  called  themselves  Lindiswaras,  a  name  still  pre- 
served in  the  Lindsey  district  of  Lincolnshire.  Se- 
parate at  first,  the  Lindiswaras  afterwards  were  joined 

to  East  Anglia. 

Between  the  Humber  and  the  Forth  was  another 
region  which  fell  by  degrees,  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  fifth  and  the  first  half  of  the  sixth  century,  into  the 
hands  of  the  Angles.     The  long  range  of  unprotected 
coast  was  first  occupied  by  them,  and  they  gradually 
extended  their  conquests  inland.     Eboracum  2  shared 
the  fate  of  London  and  Lindum.     The  whole  of  this 
country  may  be  described   by  the  general  name  of 
Northumbria.      The  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,   which 
is  commonly  very  sparing  of  all  notices  of  the  doing 
of  the  Angles,  records,  under  547,  "  in  this  year  Ida 
assumed  the  kingdom,  from  whom  came  the  royal 
race   of  Northumbrians."     Northumbria   was   some- 
times one  kingdom,  sometimes  divided  into   two— 
Deira  and  Bernicia— lying,    respectively,  south  and 
north  of  the  Tyne.     It   is   interesting  to  note  that 
Bamborough  is  mentioned  as  the  spot  which  Ida  first 
occupied  as  his  base  of  operations.     "  He  surrounded 
it,"   safd    the    Chronicler,   **  first  with   a  ditch,   and 
afterwards  with  a  wall." 


*  Lincoln. 


York. 


104  ^^^  ENGLISH  CONQUEST. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  sixth  century  the  West 
Saxons  regained  their  activity,  and  pushed  forwards 
the  conquests  which  had  been  checked  awhile  by  the 
defeat  at    Badon    Hill.      Under   the   year    552,   the 
Chronicle   records:    *' In   this    year    Cynric   fought 
against  the  British  in  a  place  which  is  called  Searo- 
burgh   (Old    Sarum),   and    put   the    Brito-Welsh  to 
flight."     Four  years  afterwards  we  find  him  fighting 
with  the  same  enemies  at  Barbur>^  Hill,  some  twenty- 
five  miles  to  the  north.^     In  560  Cynric  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Ceawlin,  and  under  his  rule  the  West  Saxons 
made  rapid  progress.     After  a  conflict  with  the  ruler 
of  Kent— the  first  instance  we  find  on  record  of  strife 
between  different  stocks  of  the  conquerors— we  find 
him  in  571   fighting  against  the  Brito-Welsh  at  Bed- 
ford, and  taking  four  towns  (one  of  which  can  be 
clearly  identified  as  Aylesbury)  ;  and  in  577,  again, 
we  read  how  Ceawlin  and  Cuthwine  (a  brother  of  the 
king)  fought   against  three  kings  at  Deorham,   and 
took  three  cities  from  them— Gloucester  and  Ciren- 
cester and    Bath.      Frethern    (in    Gloucestershire)  is 
mentioned  (though  we  cannot  be  certain  of  the  place) 
as  the  scene  of  another  battle  (584).     Here  "  Cutha 
was  slain,  and  Ceawlin  took  many  towns,  and  count- 
less booty,  and  returned  thence  wrathful  to  his  own/* 
This  may  be  said  to  mark,  for  a  time,  the  furthest 
advance  of  Wessex  as  against  the  British  population. 

»  If  the  "Beranbarh"  of  the  Chronicle  is,  as  Mr.  Thorpe  thinks, 
Banbury,  in  the  north  of  Oxfordshire,  it  would  show  a  greater  advance. 
Barbury  is  a  height  of  the  Marlborough  Downs  (between  Swindon  and 
Marlborough).  The  remains  of  a  great  British  camp  are  still  to  be 
seen  there. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  MERCIA, 


X05 


™ 


il 


The  great  victory  of  Deorham  was  the  last  of  Ceaw- 

lin's  successes.  r    tv/t      • 

Another  kingdom  remains  to  be  spoken  of— Mercia, 
the  settlement  of  the  Angles  kl    Central   England. 
No  part  of    the   history  of    the  Conquest  is  more 
obscure.     The  name  of  Merdans  signifies   "  Men  of 
the  Marskes,"  and  refers  to  thiir  position  as  living  on 
the  boundaries  of  the  British   kingdoms.     It  must, 
therefore,  be  somewhat  late  in  date.     That  the  tribes 
who   had   conquered    Eastprn    England,   which   was 
then,   it  must  be  remembered,  largely   occupied  by 
marsh   and  fen,  pushed  their  way  to  the  westward, 
may  be  fairly  conje(^tured.     And  it  is  also  probable 
that  advance  parties  from  the  West  Saxons,  after  these 
had  resumed  their  career^ of  conquest,  came  north- 
wards.    Mercia,  therefore,  may  be  regarded  as  mainly 
an  Anglian  settlement,  but  with  the  admixture  of  a 
certain  Saxon  element.     It  has  been  pointed  out  that 
in  history  it'' appears  as  less  united   in  feeling  and 
action  than  any  other  of  the  English  states.     Its  first 
kine   is  said  to    have    been    Crida,  whose   death  is 
assigned  to  the  year  6(±).  , 

In  577  the  work  of  the  ^onqMferors  was  substantially 
finished.  Let  ifs  see  how  thfe  two  races— British  and 
Saxon  (or  English,  as  we  shaLll  hereafter  call  it)  stood 
to  one  another ;  how  they  shared  the  island  between 

them. 

South  of  the  Bristol  Channel  the  Britons  still  occu- 
pied Cornwall,  Devonshire,  and  almost  all  Somerset- 
shire and  Dorsetshire.     This  region  was  called  West 

Wales, 

North  of  the  Bristol  Channel  we  must  imagine  a 


THE  BOUNDARY  01^  WALES. 


107 


I; 


" 


IValkererBoutaUsc 


MAP   2— AD.    577. 


Wales— North  Wales,  a  it  was  called— advanced 
eastward  so  far  as  to  include  Monmouth,  Hereford- 
shire, Shropshire,  Cheshire,  and  some  portion  of 
Gloucestershire  and  Worcester. 

North  of  the  Mersey,  again,  we  have  another  British 
state  including  Lancashire,  the  hilly  region  of 
Western  Yorkshire,  and  the  mountain  counties  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmoreland.  This  goes  by  the 
name  of  Cumbria. 

Finally,  north  of  the  Solway  Firth  is  the  British 
state  of  Strathclyde,  reaching  as  far  as  the  Firth  of 

Clyde. 

The  remainder  of  the  island,  putting  the  region 
north  of  the  Clyde  and  Forth  out  of  the  question, 
consists  of  about  three-fifths.  The  Angles  occupy 
the  North  and  East  and  North  Midlands,  the  Saxons 
the  remainder,  excepting  the  Jutish  kingdom  of  Kent, 
and  the  Jutish  settlements  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  and 
the  south  of  Hampshire.  These  latter,  however, 
seem  not  to  have  been  independent. 

But  the  boundary  between  Welsh  and  English  was 
continually  shifting,  always  in  a  westerly  direction. 
In  the  course  of  another  century  and  a  half.  West 
Wales  had  disappeared,  as  had  Cumbria  also  ;  while 
North  Wales  had  been  reduced  to  something  like  the 
present  dimension  of  Wales,  except  that  it  would 
include  the  county  of  Monmouth. 

And  what,  it  may  be  asked,  became  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country  that  thus  became  English  instead 
of  being  British  ?  This  is  a  question  that  has  been 
variously  answered  ;  some  writers  holding  that  the 
Britons  were  exterminated  ;  others,  that  large  num- 


THE  BOUNDARY  O^   WALES, 


107 


f 
•J' 


I'' 


iValker&rBoutallsc. 


MAP  2— A.D.   577. 


. 


f 


Wales— North  Wales,  a  it  was  called— advanced 
eastward  so  far  as  to  include  Monmouth,  Hereford- 
shire, Shropshire,  Cheshire,  and  some  portion  of 
Gloucestershire  and  Worcester. 

North  of  the  Mersey,  again,  we  have  another  British 
state  including  Lancashire,  the  hilly  region  of 
Western  Yorkshire,  and  the  mountain  counties  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmoreland.  This  goes  by  the 
name  of  Cumbria. 

Finally,  north  of  the  Solway  Firth  is  the  British 
state  of  Strathclyde,  reaching  as  far  as  the  Firth  of 

Clyde. 

The  remainder  of  the  island,  putting  the  region 
north  of  the  Clyde  and  Forth  out  of  the  question, 
consists  of  about  three-fifths.  The  Angles  occupy 
the  North  and  East  and  North  Midlands,  the  Saxons 
the  remainder,  excepting  the  Jutish  kingdom  of  Kent, 
and  the  Jutish  settlements  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  and 
the  south  of  Hampshire.  These  latter,  however, 
seem  not  to  have  been  independent. 

But  the  boundary  between  Welsh  and  English  was 
continually  shifting,  always  in  a  westerly  direction. 
In  the  course  of  another  century  and  a  half.  West 
Wales  had  disappeared,  as  had  Cumbria  also  ;  while 
North  Wales  had  been  reduced  to  something  like  the 
present  dimension  of  Wales,  except  that  it  would 
include  the  county  of  Monmouth. 

And  what,  it  may  be  asked,  became  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country  that  thus  became  English  instead 
of  being  British  ?  This  is  a  question  that  has  been 
variously  answered  ;  some  writers  holding  that  the 
Britons  were  exterminated  ;  others,  that  large  num- 


^■.^.■■■■^a.-...^.:^ja.a&&a&gig>'--ae  r.^^  a-Aj^afr5iitM!fe3ga3»t       . 


io8 


THE   ENGLISH   CONQUEST, 


bers  of  them  were  left.     Possibly  the  right  answer 
lies  between  the  two,  but  nearer  to  the  first  than  to 
the  second.     It   is   not  too    much  to   say   that  the 
language  was  absolutely  changed,  and  that  with  the 
British   language  the  laws   and  the  religion  of   the 
conquered  people  disappeared.    But  it  is  only  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  the  native  race  did  not  fare  alike 
in  all  parts  of  the  country.     There  is  a  large  part  of 
England  in  which,  except  in  the  names  of  some  large 
natural  features,  such  as  rivers  and  hills,  not  a  trace  of 
the  Celt  remains.     Roughly  speaking,  this  part  cor- 
responds to  that  which   has  been  already  described 
as  belonging  to  the  conquerors  in  577-    But  westward 
of  this   line  the  Celtic  element  becomes  more   and 
more  evident.     No  one,  for  instance,  who  compares  a 
Herefordbhire  peasant  with  his  fellow  in  Sussex,  can 
doubt  that  there  is  a  considerable  difference  of  race 
between  them,  and  that  this  difference  comes  from  a 
mixture  of  Celtic  blood.     And  when  we  come  to  the 
extreme  west  of  the  island    (I   leave  Wales  out  of 
consideration),  we  find  in  Cornwall  a  Celtic  language 
which   has   only  ceased    to    be    spoken    within   the 
memory  of  persons  still  living. 

But  what  really  happened  can  never  be  known. 
No  records  of  the  time  have  been  left,  except  some 
such  brief  notice  as  we  find  of  the  taking  of  Anderida, 
that  "  there  was  not  one  Briton  left."  Yet  here  and 
there  nature  has  preserved  some  curiously  significant 
record  of  those  dreadful  days.  One  such  memorial 
has  been  eloquently  interpreted  by  a  writer,  to  whom 
every  student  of  history  owes  a  debt  larger  than  can 
be  expressed.  I  cannot  better  conclude  this  chapter 
then  by  quoting  it : 


THE  king's   scaur. 


109 


"If  history  tells  us  nothing  of  the  victories  that  laid 
this  great  district   at  the  feet  of  its  conquerors,  the 
spade  of  the   archaeologist    has   done   somewhat   to 
reveal  the  ruin  and  misery  of  the  conquered  people. 
The  caves  of  the  Yorkshire  moorlands  preserve  traces 
of  the  miserable  fugitives  who  fled  to  them  for  shelter. 
Such  a  cave  opens  on  the  side  of  a  lonely  ravine, 
known  now  as  the  King's  Scaur,  high  up  in  the  moors 
beside  Settle.     In  primaeval  ages  it  had  been  a  haunt 
of  hyaenas,  who  dragged  thither  the  mammoths,  the 
reindeer,  the  bisons,  and  the  bears  that  growled  in  the 
neighbouring  glens.     At    a   later  time    it  became  a 
home  of  savages,  whose  stone  adzes  and  flint  knives 
and  bone  harpoons  are   still   embedded  in  its  floor. 
But  these,  too,  vanished  in  their  turn,  and  this  haunt 
of  primitive  man  lay  lonely  and  undisturbed  till  the 
sword  of    the    English    invaders   drove   the  Roman 
provincials  for  shelter  to  the  moors.     The  hurry  of 
their  flight   may  be   gathered  from  the  relics  their 
cave-life  has  left  behind  it.     There  was  clearly  little 
time  to  do  more    than  to    drive  off  the  cattle,  the 
swine,  the  goats,  whose  bones  lie  scattered  round  the 
hearth  fire  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  where  they  served 
the  wretched  fugitives   for  food.     The  women  must 
have   buckled    hastily   their   brooches   of   bronze   or 
parti-coloured  enamel,  the  peculiar  workmanship  of 
Celtic   Britain,    and   snatched    up   a    few   household 
implements    as   they   hurried   away.      The  men,   no 
doubt,  girded  on  as  hastily  the  swords,  whose  dainty 
sword  hilts  of  ivory  and  bronze  still  remain  to  tell  the 
tale  of  their  doom,  and  hiding  in  their  breast  what 
money  the  house  contained,  from  coins  of  Trajan  to 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   CAVE. 


lit 


FLINT   KNIVES. 

{Reprodtued  from  **  Transactions  of  the  Essex  Field  Club.''^\ 


the   wretched  'minims'  that  told  of    the    Empire's 
decay,   mounted  their  horses  to  protect  their  flight. 
At  nightfall  all  were  crouching  beneath  the  dripping 
roof  of  the  cave  or  round  the  fire  that  was  blazing  at 
its  mouth,  and  a  long  suffering  began  in  which  the 
fugitives  lost  year  by  year  the  memory  of  the  civili- 
zation from  which  they  came.     A  few  charred  bones 
show  how  hunger  drove  them  to  slay  their  horses  for 
food ;  reddened  pebbles  mark  the  hour  when  the  new 
vessels  they  wrought  were  too  weak  to  stand  the  fire, 
and  their  meal  was  cooked  by  dropping  heated  stones 
into  the  pot.     A  time  seems  to  have  come  when  their 
very  spindles  were  exhausted,  and   the   women  who 
wove  in   that  dark  retreat   made  spindle   whorls  as 
they  could  from  the  bones  that  lay  about  them." 


STATUE  OF   A   RIVEK   GOD— i'KObABLY   THE   NORTH    TYNE, 


III 


FLINT   KNIVES. 

{Reproduced  from  "  Transactions  of  the  Essex  Field  Club.**) 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   CAVE, 


111 


the  wretched  'minims'  that  told  of  the  Empire's 
decay,  mounted  their  horses  to  protect  their  flight. 
At  nightfall  all  were  crouching  beneath  the  dripping 
roof  of  the  cave  or  round  the  fire  that  was  blazing  at 
its  mouth,  and  a  long  suffering  began  in  which  the 
fugitives  lost  year  by  year  the  memory  of  the  civili- 
zation from  which  they  came.  A  few  charred  bones 
show  how  hunger  drove  them  to  slay  their  horses  for 
food;  reddened  pebbles  mark  the  hour  when  the  new 
vessels  they  wrought  were  too  weak  to  stand  the  fire, 
and  their  meal  was  cooked  by  dropping  heated  stones 
into  the  pot.  A  time  seems  to  have  come  when  their 
very  spindles  were  exhausted,  and  the  women  who 
wove  in  that  dark  retreat  made  spindle  whorls  as 
they  could  from  the  bones  that  lay  about  them." 


STATUE  OF  A  RIVER  GOD— i'KObABLY   THE   NORTH  TYNE. 


XL 


THE  FIRST   FOUR    BRETWALDAS   (ELLE,  CEAWLIN, 
ETHELBERT,   REDWALD). 

Bede  tells  US  in  his  "  Ecclesiastical  History"  that 
seven  princes  at  various  times  and  in  different  places 
held  the  sovereignty  or  chieftainship  ^  of  the  English 
kingdoms.  The  seven  of  his  list  are  Eile  of  Sussex, 
Ceawlin  of  Wessex,  Ethelbert  of  Kent,  Redwald  of 
East  Anglia,  Edwin,  Oswald,  and  Oswin  of  North- 

umbria. 

The  title  requires  some  explanation,  an  explanation 
which  it  is  not  easy  to  give  without  entering  into 
a  very  difficult  controversy.  What  the  word  itself 
means  is  not  by  any  means  certain.  Even  its  deriva- 
tion is  a  matter  of  dispute.  About  the  latter  half  of 
it,  indeed,  all  are  agreed.  Wa/da  or  wea/da  (for  the 
word  has  !he  two  forms)  is  clearly  connected  with 
our  "  wield."  The  '*  walda  "  was  the  "  wielder  "  or 
"  ruler."  But  "  wielder  "  of  what  ?  "  Bret "  naturally 
suggests  "Britain  "  or  "Briton,"  words  often  spelt  with 
an    "e"   instead   of  an   "  i."     The  Bretwalda,  then, 

»  The  two  words  used  are  imperium  and  ducatus,  the  latter  obviously 
meaning  much  less  than  the  former.  '*  Empire  "  and  "  dukedom  "  are, 
elymologically,  their  English  equivalents. 


BRETWALDA,   BRITANNIA,   AND  BRYTEN.      II3 

would  be  the   ruler   of  Britain.     But,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  maintained  that  "bret"  is  not  the  right 
form,  which  should  rather  be  "  bryt,"  connected  with 
the  word  "  bryten  "  "  broad."     According  to  this  view, 
therefore,  the  Bretwalda  would  be  the  "  wide  ruler." 
Professor    Freeman    is   disposed   to    think  that    this 
derivation  is  correct,  but  that  nevertheless  the  word 
did  mean,  if  not  to  those  who  first  used  it,  at  least  in 
Bede's  time,  the  "  ruler  of  Britain."  ^     Such  incorrect 
uses  of  words  are  not  uncommon  in  times  when  men 
knew  little  or  nothing  about  the  origin  of  the  terms 
which  they  employ  in  common  speech.^     Of  course, 
it  may  be  asked.  Did  the  English  speak  of  the  island 
of  which  they  possessed   themselves  as  "  Britain  "  ? 
The  answer  is— certainly  not.     But  as  soon  as  their 
history  began  to  be  written,  being  written  in  Latin,  the 
word  Britannia  would  come  into  common  use  again  ; 
a  Latin  writer  such  as  Bede  (672-735)  might  easily 
translate  the   word    Bretwalda   by   "  Britanniae   im- 
perator"   or   "dux"    without   thinking   of  the   true 
derivation  from  "  bryten." 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  English  kings  who 
used  this  title  were  thinking  of  the  old  title  of 
Emperor,  and  were,  in  fact,  claiming  it  for  themselves, 

'  He  mentions  another  form  as  being  sometimes  used  "  Bretaeen- 
wealda,"  in  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  which  would  be  almost  conclusive 
on  this  point. 

2  The  Latin  adverb  equidem  is  a  case  in  point.  Cicero,  the  highest 
in  authority  in  all  matters  of  Latin  style,  never  uses  it  except  with  the 
first  person  singular,  thinking,  there  can  be  very  little  doubt,  that  it  was 
formed  from  the  pronoun  ego  (I)  and  the  adverb  qiddefn  (indeed).  But, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  word  was  not  formed  in  this  way,  but  from  the 
interjection  e  and  quidem.  Cicero's  usage,  therefore,  was  guided  by  a 
mistaken  etymology. 


114  THE   FIRST  FOUR  BRETWALDAS. 

as  Carausius  and  other  pretenders  had  claimed  it  in 
the  latter  days  of  the  Roman  dominion.     And  the 
fact  that  Ethelbert  of  Kent  had  a  coin  struck  with 
the  Roman  device  of  the  wolf  suckling  two  children  ^ 
has  been  brought  forward  as  a  proof  of  some  such 
pretensions.     It  is   possible   that  Ethelbert,  an  am- 
bitious   prince,   may   have    had    some    such   notion 
suggested  to  him   by  the   Gallic  bishop  who   acted 
as   his    wife's    chaplain,   but    it    is    more    probable 
that  the  coin  was  only  copied  by  unskilful  artizans, 
who  could  not  make  a  device  of  their  own.     Doubt- 
less when  in  the  ninth  century  Egbert,  after  making 
his    supremacy    to    be    acknowledged    by    all    the 
English  states,  revived  the  title  of  Bretwalda,  he  was 
thinking  of  an  Imperial  dignity.     But  then  Egbert 
had  seen  the  great  Charies  crowned  at  Rome,  and 
would   have   a   special    satisfaction    in  claiming   for 
himself  something  like   the   Imperial  dignity  which 
he  had  seen  revived  in  so  splendid  a  way. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  any  precise  definition  of 
the  Bretwalda's  power,  either  of  its  degree  or  of  its 
extent.  Both,  we  may  be  sure,  varied  with  the 
princes  who  held  it.  Some  of  these  could  not  have 
had  anything  like  the  power  of  some  of  the  kings 
who  were  never  honoured  with  this  title. 

What  claims  the  first  Bretwalda  in  Bede's  list,  Ella 
of  Sussex,  had  to  the  dignity  we  have  no  means  of 
knowing.  Any  supremacy  he  may  have  had  outside 
his  own  dominions  could  not  have  extended  beyond 

'  A  picturing  of  the  old  legend  which  told  how  a  she-wolf  nourished 
Romulus  and  Remus,  twin  sons  of  Rhea  Sylvia,  and  founders  of  Rome, 
when  exposed  in  the  marshes  of  Tiber. 


CEAWLIN  OF   WESSEX. 


115 


the  kingdom  of  Kent.  But  what  his  relations  were 
with  this  kingdom,  whether  he  did  it  any  service 
which  was  thus  acknowledged,  is  a  matter  upon  which 
we  can  scarcely  even  form  a  guess.^  But  we  may  be 
sure  that  whatever  his  power  was  it  did  not  extend 
beyond  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the  island. 

Of  Ceawlin  of  Wessex,  the  second  Bretwalda,  we 
have  already  heard  something.      In  568,  nine  years 
before  his  great  victory  at  Dereham,  he  had  defeated 
Ethelbert  of  Kent,  who  could  then  have  been  little  more 
than  a  lad,^  at  Wimbledon,  in  Surrey,     This  defeat 
was  probably  followed  by  some  acknowledgment  of 
the  supremacy  of  the  West  Saxon  king,  on  the  part 
of  Ethelbext  and  his  subjects.     Ceawlin's  career  after 
the  battle  of  Dereham  is  obscure.  We  hear  of  another 
victory   at    Frethern,  darkened  by  the  death  of  the 
conqueror's  brother  and  probably  his  son  ;  and  then 
under  the  year  592  we  have  this  entry  in  the  Chronicle  : 
"  In  this  year  there  was  a  great  slaughter  in  Britain, 
at  Woddesbeorg,3  and  Ceawlin  was  driven  out."     His 
successes— so  much  we  may  conjecture  by  the  some- 
what dubious  help  of  later  writers— had  corrupted 
his  character,  and  his  own  kindred  rose  against  him. 
A  league  was  formed  with  the  British  tribes  against 
whom  he  had  been  fighting  for  so  many  years.     It 
was  joined,  or  encouraged,  by  Ethelbert  of  Kent,  who 
had  been  strengthening  himself  in  the  east,  while  his 

^  Dr.  Lappenberg  (i.  127,  Thorpe's  translation)  writes:  '*  Sussex  is 
said  to  have  first  enjoyed  that  supremacy  when  it  had  to  defend  Kent." 
But  he  gives  no  authority,  a  thing  which  he  very  seldom  neglects. 

^  One  text  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle  gives  the  date  of  his  birth  at  552. 

3  Possibly  Wanborough,  in  Wiltshire,  about  four  miles  from  Swin- 
don. 


11 


Il6  THE  FIRST  FOUR  BRETWALDAS. 

former  overlord  had  been  busy  in  the  west,  and  who 
had  now  brought  under  his  supremacy  Sussex  and 
Essex      Ceawlin  died  two  years  afterwards  m  exile. 
The  words  in  which  Wilham  of  Malmesbury  sums  up 
the  story  of  his  reign  are  these  :   "  In  his  last  days 
banished  from  his  kingdom  he  presented  a  pitiable 
spectacle  to  his  enemies.    So  much  hated  was  he  that 
the  signal,  so  to  speak,  sounded  against  him  on  both 
sides     The  English  and  the  Britons  joined  against 
him,  and  his  army  was  put  to  flight  at  Wodnesdic 
Thus  in  the  thirty-first  year  of  his  reign  he  was  stripped 
of  his  kingdom  and  forthwith   died."      Britons   and 
English  joining  to  get  rid  of  an  obnoxious  ruler  is 
another  fact  in   the  history  and  marks  an  advance. 
We  may  not  admire  the  motives  which  brought  these 
allies  together,  but  it  is  clear  that  the  dreadful  ex- 
terminating wars  of  the  earlier  time  are  at  an  end 

We  have  now  come  to  the  third  Bretwalda,  Ethel- 
bert  of  Kent.     His  early  reign  had  been  marked,  we 
have  seen,  by  a  disastrous  defeat     From  this  circum- 
stances had  given  him  the   opportunity   to  recover 
and  he  seems  to  have  used  it  well.     Of  the  facts  of 
his  rei-n  we  know  little  except  that  somewhere  in 
the  lat^ter  part  of  the  sixth  century  he  married  the 
Princess  Bertha,  a  daughter  of  Charibert.  who  became 
King  of  the  Franks  in  561,  and  that,  owing  to  this 
alliance,  he  was,  as  the  Chronicler  tells  us  more  than 
once   "  the   first   of  English   kings  to  be  baptized. 
But  'thanks  to  Bede,  who  was  naturally  interested  in 
the  first  Christian  monarch,  we  have  a  clear  idea  of 
his  power.    That  he  exercised  any  control  over  the 
West  Saxons  we  cannot  suppose.    We  hear  indeed 


REDWALD,  KING  OF  ANGLIA. 


"7 


that  "by  the  help  of  KingEthelbert,  Augustine  called 
to  a  conference  learned  men  of  the  Britons,"  and  he 
must  have  passed  through  Wessex  to  reach  the  place 
of  meeting.   But  the  Chronicler  tells  us  of  Ceolwulf.of 
Wessex,  who  came  to  the  throne  in  597,  that  he  con- 
stantly strove  and  fought  against  either  "  the  Angle 
race,  or  against  the  Welsh,  or  against  the  Picts,  or 
against   the   Scots."     Over  the  eastern   side   of  the 
island,  however,  at  least  as  far  north  as  the  Humber, 
his  supremacy  was  undoubted.     His  sister,  Ricula  by 
name,  was  married  to  the  king  of  the  East  Saxons, 
whose  dominions  comprised  Essex,  Hertfordshire,  and 
Middlesex,  and  with  Middlesex,  of  cour.se,  London, 
with  its  strong  walls,  its  wealth,  its  numerous  popula- 
tion     This  alliance  had  probably  something  to  do 
with  the  overlordship  which  Ethelbert  undoubtedly 
exercised  over  his  neighbours  on  the  east.     Of  his 
relationship  with  Sussex  we  know  nothing  ;  but  this 
kingdom,  small  and  isolated  as  it  was,  could  hardly 
have   maintained   its   independence.      East    Anglia, 
under  its  king,  Redwald,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more 
hereafter,  paid  him  the  same  submission.    We  hear  of 
Redwald  as  visiting  Ethelbert's  Court  in  599>  and  ulti- 
mately through  his  persuasion,  or,  possibly,  compulsion, 
receiving  baptism.  But  his  power  spread  beyond  East 
Anglia  as  far  as  the  Humber,  "  that  great  river,"  as 
Bede  describes  it,  "by  which  the  Northern  are  divided 
from  the  Southern  Angles."     How  far  in  a  westerly 
direction  his  power  extended  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
Mercia,  the  great  kingdom  of  the  Midlands,  was  not 
consolidated  under  a  powerful  king  till  after  Ethel- 
bert's death.    The  small  states  of  which  it  was  after- 


EDWIN,   THE  FIFTH  BRETWALDA, 


119 


wards  constituted  probably  owned  his  supremacy, 
and,  for  a  time,  that  of  the  king  who  succeeded  him 
in  his  position  of  overlord. 

This  position  Ethelbert  does  not  seem  to  have  held 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death.     This  took  place  in  the 
year  616  ;  but  by  that  time  Redwald  of  East  Anglia 
was  Bretwalda.     How  power  came  to  be  thus  trans- 
ferred from  one  prince  to  another  we  cannot  say,  but 
we  may  safely  guess  that  the  new  faith  which  Ethel- 
bert had  adopted,  which  he  had  pressed  on  Redwald, 
and  which  Redwald  afterwards  threw  off,  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  it.     Anyhow  the  last  Anglian  king 
appears  as  fourth  on  the  list  of  Bretwaldas  and  holds 
the  dignity  till  his  death,  an  event  of  which  we  cannot 
fix  the  date,  but  which  we  may  suppose  not  to  have 
happened  later  than  620.   Before  his  death,  by  a  great 
victory  over  Ethelfrith,  of  Northumbria,  he  had  estab- 
lished Edwin,  the  fifth  Bretwalda,  on  the  throne  of 
that  kingdom.      Of  this  battle  we  shall  hear   more 
hereafter.     But  the  politics  of  the  English  kingdoms 
are    now   becoming  so   closely   connected   with   the 
struggles  between  Christianity  and  Paganism,  that  it  is 
necessary  to  describe  without  any  further  delay  how 
the  faith  which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  invaders, 
and  which  for  a  century  could  scarcely  have  had  a 
single  adherent  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  island,  again 
became  supreme. 


1 


It 


EDWIN,   THE   FIFTH  BRETWALDA. 


119 


wards  constituted  probably  owned  his  supremacy, 
and,  for  a  time,  that  of  the  king  who  succeeded  him 
in  his  position  of  overlord. 

This  position  Ethelbert  does  not  seem  to  have  held 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death.     This  took  place  in  the 
year  616  ;  but  by  that  time  Redwald  of  East  Anglia 
was  Bretwalda.     How  power  came  to  be  thus  trans- 
ferred from  one  prince  to  another  we  cannot  say,  but 
we  may  safely  guess  that  the  new  faith  which  Ethel- 
bert had  adopted,  which  he  had  pressed  on  Redwald, 
and  which  Redwald  afterwards  threw  off,  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  it.     Anyhow  the  last  Anglian  king 
appears  as  fourth  on  the  list  of  Bretwaldas  and  holds 
the  dignity  till  his  death,  an  event  of  which  we  cannot 
fix  the  date,  but  which  we  may  suppose  not  to  have 
happened  later  than  620.   Before  his  death,  by  a  great 
victory  over  Ethelfrith,  of  Northumbria,  he  had  estab- 
lished Edwin,  the  fifth  Bretwalda,  on  the  throne  of 
that   kingdom.      Of  this  battle  we  shall  hear   more 
hereafter.     But  the  politics  of  the  English  kingdoms 
are    now    becoming  so    closely   connected    with   the 
struggles  between  Christianity  and  Paganism,  that  it  is 
necessary  to  describe  without  any  further  delay  how 
the  faith  which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  invaders, 
and  which  for  a  century  could  scarcely  have  had  a 
single  adherent  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  island,  again 
became  supreme. 


ifi 


'4 


AimiitViiiiwjife^ii 


iX^^i^^^siUiSJilllia^i 


*'DE  IRA   ERUTL 


»» 


121 


XIL 


THE  CONVERSION   OF  ENGLAND 

The   England   which   was   described   in   the  last 
chapter  was,   without  doubt,  a  pagan  country.  ^    In 
a  few  spots  here  and  there  some  scattered  survivors 
of  the   conquered    race   may   have    cherished    some 
recollection   of  their  old  faith  ;  but  nowhere  was  it 
openly  professed,  and  in  some  places  it  was  absolutely 
forgotten.  The  independent  Britons  of  the  West  held 
aloof  from  the  heathen  invaders,  whom  they  regarded, 
to  use  the  language  of  one  of  their  writers,  as  "hateful 
to  God  and  man."^     The  more  zealous  Christians  of 
Ireland  and  Scotland,  of  whose  missionary  spirit  St. 
Patrick  and  St.  Aidan  may  be  taken  as  examples, 
may   have   done   something   to   touch   the    heathen 
nearest  to  their  own  borders.     But  the  work  of  con- 
version had  substantially  to  be  done  anew. 

It  was  done  by  two  sets  of  workers,  one  coming 
from  Rome,  the  other  from  the  native  churches. 

The  story  of  the  Roman  missionaries  is  easily  told, 
for  we  have  a  clear  and  trustworthy  record  of  it.     It 

runs  thus  : 

Somewhere  about  the  year   580,  almost  the  time 

'  Gildas. 


when  the  English  conquest  reached  its  first  stage,  one 
Gregory,  a  noble  Roman,  abbot  of  a  monastery  which 
he  had  himself  founded,  passing  through  the  slave- 
market  of  Rome,  was  attracted  by  the  fair  faces  and 
flaxen  hair  of  some  youths  exposed  for  sale.     "  Who 
are   these  ?  "  he  asked    of  the  slave-dealer.      "  They 
come  from  Britain."  "Are  they  Christians  or  Pagans?" 
"  Pagans."    "  Alas  !  that  men  so  bright  of  face  should 
be  possessed  of  the  author  of  darkness  !  of  what  tribe 
are  they  ?  "     "  Angles."     "  Well  called,  for  they  have 
the  faces  of  angels,  and  should  be  co-heirs  with  the 
angels  in  heaven.     But,  from  what  province  do  they 
come  ?  "     "  They   are   Deiri."      "  It  is  well,  rescued 
from  the  wrath  of  God  ^  and  made  Christians."  A  few 
days  afterwards  he  set  out  with  some  of  his  monks  en 
a  missionary  journey  to  the  people  of  whom  he  had 
thus  heard.     But  the  Romans  had  learnt  to  love  him 
so  well  that  they  compelled  him  to  return.   For  nearly 
twenty  years  his  plan  had  to  be  put  aside.  Even  when 
in  590  he  became  Pope,  other  more  pressing  matters 
claimed   his   attention.     At   last,    in    595,   the   time 
seemed  to  have  come.      He  chose  from  among  the 
monks  of  his  old  monastery  a  certain  Augustine,  and 
sent  him  with  some  companions  to  do  the  work  from 
which  he  had  been  himself  hindered.    The  little  com- 
pany  set   out  ;   but   when  they  reached  Gaul   they 
heard  such  terrifying  accounts  of  the  savagery  of  the 
English  that  Augustine  returned  to  Rome  to  beg  that 
they  might  be  released  from  their  task.     Gregory  re- 
fused.  *'  The  more  difficult  the  labour  the  greater  the 
reward,"  was  his  answer.     Then  they  went  on,  but 


li 


^  '■'■  De  ira  eruti. 


» 


J.. .t...  -  .- ■jjtiCj'^-.N. .--^sj-f '-•■^'.  •  ■■yeiaait jiMag;.*jffi*igit«t'3 


122 


THE   CONVERSION  OF  ENGLAND. 


slowly.    It  was  not  till  597  that  they  landed  at  Ebbes- 
fleet,!  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet. 

They  had  chosen  their  place  prudently.  Ethelbert, 
King  of  Kent,  had  married,  as  has  been  before 
stated,  a  Christian  princess.  It  had  been  agreed 
that  the  Queen  should  be  allowed  to  follow  her 
own  religion  ;  she  had  a  chaplain,  Luidhard,  Bishop 
of  Senlis ;  and  the  old  Roman-British  Church  of 
St.  Martin,  in  Canterbury,  had  been  assigned  for 
the  Christian  worship.  Ethelbert  received  Augustine's 
messengers  courteously,  and  promised  to  give  him 
the  interview  for  which  he  asked.  Only  he  stipulated 
that  the  meeting  must  take  place  in  the  open  air. 
He  feared  the  power  of  the  spells  which  the  strangers 
mieht  be  able  to  use  were  he  to  talk  to  them  under  a 

roof. 

The  King  and  the  missionaries  met  under  an  oak 
held  sacred  by  the  people  of  the  country.  Augustine 
did  his  best  to  make  the  scene  impressive.  He  came 
up  from  the  shore  in  solemn  procession.  A  cross- 
bearer  carried  in  front  a  large  cross  of  silver.  Next 
came  another  attendant  bearing  a  picture  of  Christ, 
richly  worked  on  a  panel  with  gold  and  colours. 
Behind  came  the  rest  of  the  company,  chanting  a 
litany  in  which  they  besought  the  mercy  of  God  on 
the  people  of  Kent  and  themselves.  The  King  knew 
no  Latin  ;  the  missionaries  could  not  speak  English. 
But  some  priests  who  had  come  with  Augustine  from 
Gaul  interpreted  his  words  when  he  explained  what 
the  Christ  whose  picture  they  saw  had  come  to  do. 
Ethelbert  answered  that  the  promises  of  the  strangers 
*  The  place  where  Hengist  and  Horsa  are  said  to  have  landed. 


AUGUSTINE  LOOKS   TO  BRITISH  CHURCHES.      123 

sounded  well.  He  could  not  undertake  to  leave  the 
faith  and  customs  of  his  fathers,  but  his  people  might 
do  as  they  thought  best.  He  invited  the  missionaries 
to  come  back  with  him  to  his  capital  town  of  Canter- 
bury. There  they  were  permitted  to  worship  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Martin. 

Their  success  was  rapid.  They  had  landed,  it  v^rould 
seem,  in  the  early  spring  of  j^7,  and  on  June  2nd 
(which  was  the  festival  of  Whitsunday)  the  King  was 
baptized.  His  zeal  and  liberality  were  remarkable. 
He  gave  up  to  Augustine  his  own  palace,  and  helped 
him  in  other  ways  most  effectually. 

Augustine  naturally  looked  for  the  help  of  the 
British  churches.  This  hope  was  disappointed,  pro- 
bably from  faults  on  both  sides.  The  Roman  mis- 
sionary considered  that  the  native  bishops  owed  him 
obedience  as  having  been  put  under  his  care  by  Pope 
Gregory.  His  chief  demands  were  that  they  should 
follow  the  Roman  time  of  keeping  Easter,  and  that 
they  should  help  in  preaching  to  the  English.  The 
first  meeting  had  no  result.  At  a  second  seven 
British  bishops  and  the  Abbot  of  Bangor  came  to 
confer  with  Augustine.  On  their  way  they  had 
asked  the  advice  of  a  hermit.  "  Shall  we  change 
the  customs  of  our  fathers?"  "Yes,  if  the  new- 
comer be  a  man  of  God."  "  How  shall  we  know 
whether  he  be  such  or  no  ?  "  "  The  Lord  said,  '  Take 
my  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  me,  for  I  am  meek 
and  lowly.'  If  this  Augustine  be  meek  and  lowly, 
be  sure  that  he  beareth  the  yoke  of  Christ."  "  But 
how  shall  we  know  this  ?  "  "  If  he  rise  to  meet  you 
when  you  approach,  hear  and  follow  him  j  but  if  he 


124  ^^^   CONVERSION  OF  ENGLAND, 

despise  you  and  rise  not,  reject  him."  Augustine, 
looking  upon  himself  as  superior  in  rank,  remained 
seated :  and  the  British  bishops  refused  to  yield  to 
his  demands  "  If  he  will  not  rise  up  to  greet  us," 
they  said,  "  how  much  more  will  he  despise  us,  if  we 
yield  to  him."  Augustine  was  greatly  enraged.  "  If 
ye  will  not  have  peace  with  your  brethren,  ye  shall 
have  war  with  your  enemies.  If  ye  will  not  preach 
the  way  of  life  to  the  English,  ye  shall  suffer  death  at 
their  hands."  These  were  words  which  soon  had  a 
terrible  fulfilment,  and  were  afterwards  believed  to 
have  been  spoken  with  a  sinister  meaning. 

Among  the  English  themselves  Augustine  had  more 
success.  Another  bishopric  was  founded  at  Rochester, 
and  the  whole  of  Kent  soon  became  Christian.  The 
small  kingdom  of  Essex,  then  ruled  by  Sebert,  a 
nephew  of  King  Ethelbert,  accepted  the  new  faith  ; 
and  London,  its  capital,  became  the  seat  of  a  bishop. 
Mellitus,  one  of  a  company  sent  out  by  Gregory  in 
6oi,to  reinforce  Augustine,  was  the  first  to  occupy 

the  see. 

The  next  conquest  was  Northumbria.  Here,  Edwin, 
son  of  Ella,  and  rightful  heir,  had  been  dispossessed 
by  his  neighbour  Ethelfrith.  The  boy— he  was  but 
three  years  old— had  been  brought  up  by  a  British 
king.  His  protector  was  defeated  in  a  battle  fought 
near   Chester  by  Ethelfrith.^      Edwin    fled,   first   to 

»  It  was  after  this  battle  that  the  prophecy  of  Augustine  found  a 
terrible  fulfilment.  The  monks  of  Bangor  stood  on  a  neighbouring 
hill,  watching  the  struggle,  and  offering  up  prayers  for  the  success  of 
their  countrymen.  The  battle  over,  the  King  of  Northumbria  mquired 
who  they  were.  When  he  was  told,  he  said,  *'  If  they  cry  to  their  God 
against  us,  and  load  us  with  imprecations,  then,  though  unarmed,  they 
fight  against  us,"  and  commanded  that  they  should  be  put  to  death. 


TJ^£  VISION  OF  EDWIM. 


125 


Mercia,  and  then  to  Redwald,  King  of  East  Anglia. 
To  two  requests  of  Ethelfrith  that  the  fugitive  should 
be  given  up,  Redwald  returned  a  refusal.  A  third, 
strengthened  by  a  great  bribe  and  by  a  threat  of  war, 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  grant.  A  friend  warned  Edwin 
of  his  danger,  but  he  refused  to  fly.  "  I  will  not  break 
my  compact,"  he  said,  "with  a  king  who  has  not 
harmed  me.  If  I  am  to  die,  let  him  rather  than  a 
less  noble  hand  deliver  me  to  death  ?  And  whither 
can  I  flee,  I,  who  have  wandered  through  all  the 
provinces  of  Britain  ?  " 

The  friend  departed,  and  the  prince  sat  down  on  a 
stone  in  front  of  the  palace.      A  stranger  came  up 
and   asked   him,  "  Why   do   you   wake   when  others 
sleep  }    Think  not,  however,  that  I  do  not  know  the 
care  of  your  waking.     Say,  then,  what  reward  will 
you   give  to  him  who  shall  deliver  you  from  these 
cares,  and  persuade  Redwald  not  to  give  you    into 
the  hand  of  your  enemies .? "      "  He  shall  have  all 
the  gratitude  of  my  heart."     "  And  what  if  he  shall 
promise  that  you  shall  destroy  your  adversaries  and 
be  more   powerful,  not  only  than  your    forefathers, 
but  than  any  English  king  ?  "     "I  will  give  myself  to 
him."     "  And  if  he  tell  you  of  doctrines  of  life  and 
salvation  better  than  aught  your  fathers  have  heard, 
will  you  listen  to  him  }  "   "  I  will."  Then  the  stranger 
laid  his  hand  on  Edwin's  head,  and  said,  *'  When  this 
sign  shall  be  repeated, remember  this  sign  and  this  hour, 
and  fulfil  what  you  now  promise."    With  these  words 
the  stranger,  it  is  said,  vanished.     Shortly  afterwards, 
Edwin's  friend  returned  with  the  news  that  Redwald, 
persuaded   by  his  queen,  had  refused   the  offers  of 


I 


II 


126 


THE   CONVERSION  OF  ENGLAND. 


Ethelfrith.  Nor  was  this  all ;  he  marched  against  the 
usurper,  and  defeated  him  in  a  bloody  battle  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Idle.^  Edwin  thus  regained  his 
paternal  dominions.  He  declined,  however,  to  receive 
baptism,  notwithstanding  the  persuasions  of  his  Chris- 
tian wife,  Ethelburga,  daughter  of  Ethelbert  of  Kent, 
and  her  adviser,  Paulinus.  But  when  he  had  nar- 
rowly escaped  assassination  at  the  hand  of  an  emis- 
sary of  the  King  of  Wessex  and  was  further  touched 
by  the  danger  of  his  wife,  who  was  delivered  of  a 
daughter  a  few  hours  after  the  attempt,  he  could 
resist  no  longer.  He  was  in  this  mood  when  Paulinus, 
so  runs  the  story,  approached  him,  laid  his  hand  upon 
his  head,  and  asked  him  whether  he  recognized  the 
sign.  The  King  at  once  promised  to  receive  the  faith, 
and  assembled  his  council  to  discuss  the  matter  with 
them.  Coifi,  the  high  priest,  when  asked  for  his 
opinion,  declared  that  in  his  opinion  the  old  gods 
were  nothing  worth.  "  No  one,"  he  said,  '*  has  been 
more  zealous  for  them  than  I,  yet  many  have  received 
greater  rewards  and  attained  more  success."  Another 
noble  answered  the  king's  question  in  a  famous 
apologue.  "  This  life,  O  King,  in  comparison  with  the 
time  that  is  hidden  from  us,  seems  to  be  such  as  this. 
When  you  are  sitting  in  your  hall  at  your  meal  in  the 
winter  time,  with  your  nobles  about  you  and  a  fire  in 
the  midst,  a  sparrow  flies  quickly  through,  entering  at 
one  door  and  passing  out  by  the  other.  So  it  goes 
from  storm  to  storm.  Such  is  the  life  of  man.  If 
this  doctrine  tells  us  anything  more  certain,  let   us 

>  The  Idle  rises  five  miles  from  Retford,  and  flows  into  the  Trent  a 
few  miles  below  Gainsborough. 


RELAPSE   INTO   PAGANISM. 


127 


receive  it."  Paulinus  now  delivered  a  discourse,  in 
which  he  set  forth  the  Christian  faith.  The  King 
and  all  his  nobles  received  it,  Coifi  setting  the 
example  of  profaning  the  temples  in  which  he  had 

ministered. 

East   Anglia  was  the  next   kingdom   to   become 
Christian.     Redwald   had  received  baptism  in  Kent, 
persuaded  or  compelled  by  his  overlord.  King  Ethel- 
bert, and  had  introduced  the  new  faith  into  his  king- 
dom'.    But  the  heathen  party,  led,  it  is  said,  by  his 
queen,  were  too  strong  for  him.     He  endeavoured  to 
compromise  matters  by  setting  up  altars  to  the  old 
gods  in  the  churches  which  he  dedicated  to  Christian 
worship.     His  son,  Earpwarld,  was  a  more  consistent 
believer,  as  after  his  death  was  also  his  brother  Sige- 
bert.     Felix,  a  native  of   Burgundy,  who  had  been 
sent  by  Honorius,  Archbishop  of    Canterbury,   was 
the    chief    instrument    in     the    conversion    of    this 
region,  and  has  consequently  received  the  title  of  the 
Apostle  of  East  Anglia.     He  fixed  his  bishop's  seat 
at    Dunwich,    on    the    coast    of   Suffolk,    then    and 
afterwards  a  prosperous  town  with  many  churches, 
now  reduced  by  the  inroads  of  the  sea   to   a  petty 

village. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  progress  of 
Christianity  went  on  without  interruption.  In  Kent 
itself  there  had  been  a  relapse  into  Paganism  when 
Ethelbert  was  succeeded  (in  617)  by  his  son  Eadbald. 
The  same  change  took  place  in  Essex,  and  Mellitus 
was  driven  away  from  his  see  of  London.  At  one 
time  it  seemed  as  if  the  whole  work  of  Augustine 
was  to  be  abandoned.     Archbishops  Laurentius,  Mel- 


128 


THE   CONVERSION  OF  ENGLAND. 


Htus,  and  Justus  of  Rochester,  agreed  to  leave  the 
country,  and  the  two  latter  actually  departed.  Bede 
thus  relates  what  followed.  Laurentius,  left  alone, 
slept  in  his  cathedral  church.  There  St.  Peter 
appeared  to  him,  reproved  him  for  his  faithlessness, 
and  enforced  his  reproof  by  a  severe  scourging.  The 
next  morning  the  Archbishop  presented  himself 
before  the  King.  "  Who,"  said  Eadbald,  "  has  dared 
so  to  treat  a  person  of  your  consideration  .? "  Then 
Laurentius  told  him  what  he  had  seen  and  suffered. 
Something,  it  is  certain,  changed  the  King's  feelings. 
He  embraced  the  faith  which  before  he  had  always 
rejected,  and  Kent  remained  thenceforth  steadily 
Christian.     The  re-conversion  of    Essex   was  longer 

delayed. 

In  Northumbria  the  work  of  Paulinus  was  wholly 
undone.  Edwin  fell  in  battle  (633),  and  his  kingdom 
relapsed  into  paganism. 

Here  comes  in  the  work  of  the  Celtic  missionaries. 
It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  Kent  and  East  Anglia 
(to  which,  perhaps,  Essex  should  be  added)  were  the 
only  permanent  results  of  the  mission  of  Augustine. 
In  Northumbria  Oswald,  who  during  the  reign  of 
Edwin  had  been  baptized  and  instructed  by  the 
monks  of  lona,  when  restored  to  his  kingdom, 
begged  his  old  teachers  to  send  him  a  missionary, 
who  might  help  to  re-convert  his  people.  A  certain 
Corman  was  despatched.  He  was  a  man  of  stern 
temper,  and  lacked  the  gift  of  persuasiveness. 
Returning  to  those  who  had  sent  him,  and  reporting 
that  the  English  were  hopelessly  obstinate,  he  was 
told  by  Aidan,  one  of  the  assessors  of  the   synod, 


THE  SPREAD  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


129 


that  his  own  severity  had  been  in  fault.  Aidan 
himself  was  then  sent,  and  was  settled  by  King 
Oswald  in  the  island  of  Lindisfarne,  off  the  coast  of 
Northumbria.  It  is  to  Aidan  and  his  associates, 
among  whom  the  King,  himself  a  most  zealous  Chris- 
tian, must  rank  first,  that  the  permanent  conversion  of 
Northumbria  was  due. 

Mercia,  under  its  king,  Penda,  long  remained  ob- 
stinately heathen.  The  wars  which  this  savage 
monarch  waged  with  his  neighbours  seemed  to  have 
had,  for  one  at  least  of  their  motives,  a  hatred  of  the 
Christian  faith.  But  Penda  himself,  before  his  death 
in  655,  felt  that  the  new  faith  was  growing  too  strong 
for  him.  All  his  children  seem  to  have  been  Chris- 
tians, and  his  son  Peada  brought  back  with  him  from 
Northumbria,  where  he  had  married  a  daughter  of 
King  Edwy,  four  missionaries.  The  old  king  was 
now  willing  to  tolerate  the  Christian  faith,  but  he  was 
always,  it  is  said,  most  impatient  of  those  whose 
practice  did  not  agree  with  their  profession.  After 
his  death  the  work  of  conversion  went  on  rapidly. 

The  spread  of  Christianity  in  Wessex  is  connected 
with  the  name  of  Birinus,  a  Benedictine  monk  from 
Rome,  who  went  there  in  634,  by  the  advice,  it  is 
said,  of  Pope  Honorius  (625-638).  Birinus  was 
helped  by  Oswald  of  Northumbria  and,  probably,  by 
missionaries  from  the  Northumbrian  Church.  He 
was  able  to  convert  King  Cynegils,  and  founded  his 
bishop's  see  at  the  Oxfordshire  Dorchester. 

The  last  of  the  English  kingdoms  to  give  up  Odin 
for  Christ  was  Sussex.  Wilfrid,  a  Northumbrian 
bishop,  had  been  banished  from  his  native  country. 


WILFRID  BAPTIZES   THE   SOUTHERN  SAXONS,     I3I 


PAGE   OF   GOSPELS. 

{Fram  the  original  MS.) 


and,  after  various  wanderings,  found  himself,  in  681, 
among  the  South  Saxons.  This  people  was  still 
mainly  heathen,  though  their  king  and  his  wife  had 
been  baptized,  and  a  little  settlement  of  Irish  monks 
was  endeavouring  to  spread  the  gospel.  Wilfrid 
came  at  the  right  time.  The  country  was  desolated 
by  famine,  the  result  of  a  long  drought,  and  the 
wretched  people,  who  were  very  backward  in  know- 
ledge of  common  life,  were  in  large  numbers  putting 
an  end  to  their  own  lives.  Wilfrid  taught  them  to 
use  nets  for  sea-fishing,  and  thus  put  them  in  the  way 
of  obtaining  an  ample  provision  of  food.  Finally,  he 
lersuaded  a  number  of  them  to  receive  the  rite  of 
baptism.  It  so  happened  that  on  the  very  day  when 
this  ceremony  was  solemnly  performed,  the  long 
drought  came  to  an  end.  Before  long  all  Sussex  had 
become  Christian. 

Thus  within  a  century  the  work  which  had  b^en 
begun  at  Ebbesfleet,  in  597,  was  brought  to  an  end. 


i 


if 


x-'.,r' 


<>«5>jvj^* 


TACK    OV    CJOSI'KLS. 

{From  the  original  J/S.) 


t 


WILFRID  BAPTIZES   THE   SOUTHERN  SAXONS,     I3I 

and,  after  various  wanderings,  found  himself,  in  681, 
among  the  South  Saxons.  This  people  was  still 
mainly  heathen,  though  their  king  and  his  wife  had 
been  baptized,  and  a  little  settlement  of  Irish  monks 
was  endeavouring  to  spread  the  gospel.  Wilfrid 
came  at  the  right  time.  The  country  was  desolated 
by  famine,  the  result  of  a  long  drought,  and  the 
wretched  people,  who  were  very  backward  in  know- 
ledge of  common  life,  were  in  large  numbers  putting 
an  end  to  their  own  lives.  Wilfrid  taught  them  to 
use  nets  for  sea-fishing,  and  thus  put  them  in  the  way 
of  obtaining  an  ample  provision  of  food.  Finally,  he 
1  ersuaded  a  number  of  them  to  receive  the  rite  of 
baptism.  It  so  happened  that  on  the  very  day  when 
this  ceremony  was  solemnly  performed,  the  long 
drought  came  to  an  end.  Before  long  all  Sussex  had 
become  Christian. 

Thus  within  a  century  the  w^ork  which  had  bcien 
begun  at  Ebbesflect,  in  597,  was  brought  to  an  end. 


u^.^»>4ji*>  !&',;»&.  ^k»J£tjgA3UiitSaSAtltSSyi 


XIII. 


THE   NORTHUMBRIAN    BRETWALDAS. 

The  story  of  Edwin  of  Northumbria,  fifth  on  Bede's 
list  of   Bretwaldas,    has   already  been  told    in   part, 
chiefly  in  its  bearing  on  the  progress  of  the  Christian 
faith.     Something  remains  to  be  said  of  his  position 
as  overlord  of  England.      It  was  his  claim  to  this 
dignity  that  brought  him  into  the  danger  of  assassi- 
nation from  which  he   so    narrowly  escaped.^     The 
assassin  was  sent  by  a  West  Saxon  king,  who  hoped 
thus   to  rid    himself   of   a    rival    who    was    growing 
dangerously  powerful.     The  treacherous  plot — for  the 
man  had  come  in  the  guise  of  a  peaceable  envoy — 
was  fully  punished.     Edwin,  as  soon  as  he  was  re- 
covered from  his  wound,  and  had  eased  his  conscience 
by  fulfilling   his    long-delayed  purpose   of    baptism, 
marched   against  Wessex,   and  amply   avenged    the 
wrong  that  had   been  done  him.     Elsewhere,  too,  he 
displayed  his  power.     As  the  Chronicler  somewhat 
strangely  puts  it,  "  he  ravaged  all  Britain,  save  Kent 
only."     And  from   Kent  he  had  taken,  as  we  have 
seen,  his  second  wife.     His  conquests,  too,  are  said  to 

*  See  p.  126. 


« 


PEACEFUL  BRtTAtN, 


133 


have  extended  both  westward  and  northward.  His 
name  is  still  preserved  in  the  city— Edinburgh — 
which  marked  the  northern  limit  of  his  dominion. 
At  Chester,  in  the  west,  he  built  a  fleet,  with  which 
he  subdued  the  two  Monas,  Man  and  Anglesey.  At 
home  peace  and  order  prevailed.  The  laws  were  so 
strictly  enforced  that  theft  and  violence  became 
unknown.  "  In  the  days  of  Edwin,"  says  Bede, 
"a  woman  with  a  babe  at  her  breast  might  have 
travelled  over  the  island  without  suffering  harm." 
The  highways,  thus  made  safe,  were  also  furnished 
with  the  "drinking  fountains,"  a  convenience  which 
we  have  only  now  again  begun  to  erect.  '*  He 
placed  cisterns  of  stone  at  convenient  intervals  to 
collect  water  from  the  nearest  springs,  and  attached 
to  them  cups  of  brass  for  the  refreshment  of  the 
passers-by."  In  his  own  person  he  made  more  show 
of  royal  state  than  had  any  of  the  princes  before  him. 
It  is  possible  that  he  had  some  thought  in  his  mind 
of  the  Roman  dominion  when  he  had  carried  before 
him  the  Roman  tufa,  a  globe,  or,  as  some  think,  a 
bunch  of  feathers  attached  to  a  spear. 

Edwin's  reign  lasted  for  sixteen  years.  But  during 
the  latter  part  of  this  period  a  formidable  rival  had 
been  gathering  strength.  In  the  yeai  before  that  in 
which  Edwin  was  baptized,  Penda,  grandson  of  Crida 
of  Mercia,  and  twelfth  in  descent  from  Woden,  came 
to  the  throne  of  Mercia.  He  "  held  the  kingdom 
thirty  winters,"  a  long  reign  mainly  spent  in  unceas- 
ing hostility  to  the  Christian  faith.  We  next  find 
him  doing  battle  with  the  King  of  Wessex  at  Ciren- 
cester, in  Gloucestershire,  and  coming  to  an  agreement 


,;' 


134  ^^^   NORTHUMBRIAN  BRETWALDAS. 

with  them.     With  his  southern  border  thus  secure,  he 
turned  to  the  west,  and  found  an  ally  in    Cadwalla, 
King  of  North  Wales.^     Cadwalla  was  presumably  a 
Christian,  but  he  seems  to  have  had  no  scruple  in 
allying  himself  with  a  pagan  for  the  conquest  of  a 
dangerous  neighbour  (we  have  already  heard  in  this 
chapter  of  Edwin's  conquests  in  Wales).     Penda  and 
Cadwalla  encountered    Edwin   at   a   place   which  is 
called  in  the  Chronicle  Heathfield,  and    which   has 
been   identified,  not,   one   would   think,   with    much 
probability,   with    Hatfield    Chase    in    Hertfordshire. 
Edwin  was  defeated  and  slain.     Penda  did  not  feel 
himself  strong   enough  to  attempt  the  conquest  of 
Northumbria,  but  turned   his  arms  elsewhere.     The 
English  of  Leicestershire  and   of  Lincolnshire   sub- 
mitted to  him,  and  he  wrested  from  Wessex  some  of 
its  territories.     In  fact,  he  busied  himself  with  build- 
ing up  the  powerful  Mercia  of  which  we  shall  hear  so 
much  hereafter.    Northumbria,  meanwhile,  had  leisure 
to  recover  itself.     OsvJyt  a  kinsman  of   Edwin,  had 
been   placed  on   the  throne  of  Deira  ;  and   Eanfrid, 
eldest  son  of  the  Ethelfrid  who  had  been  the  enemy 
of  Edwin,  to  that  of  Bernicia.     Both  had  been  bap- 
tized, both  relapsed  into  paganism,  and  both,  it  is 
said,  perished  by  the  hands  of  Cadwalla.     The  eyes 
of  the  people  were  then  turned  to  Oswald,  Eanfrid's 
younger  brother.     His  first  act  was  to  march  against 
the   British   princes,  whom   he   found   encamped   at 
Hexham,  near  the  Roman  Wall.     Oswald  was  a  firm 
adherent  to  the  faith  which  his  kinsmen  had  deserted. 

«  *'  North  Wales,"  it  will  be  remembered,  was  so  called  to  distinguish 
it  from  West  Wales,  the  south-western  portion  of  the  island. 


OSWALD  KNEELS   TO   THE   CROSS, 


135 


' 


He  bade  his  followers  make  a  cross  of  wood,  and  fix 
it  when  made  in  the  ground.  He  is  said  to  have  held 
it  with  his  own  hands  till  the  hole  in  which  it  was  to 
stand  was  filled  in  with  earth.  Then  turning  to  his 
men  he  said,  "  Soldiers,  let  us  bend  our  knees,  and 
beg  of  the  true  and  living  God  to  protect  us  from  the 
insolence  and  fierceness  of  our  enemies,  for  he  knows 
that  our  cause  is  just."  He  then  bade  them  kneel 
down  and  pray.  In  the  battle  that  followed  the 
soldiers  of  the  cross,  though  far  inferior  in  numbers 
to  their  enemies,  were  completely  victorious.  Cad- 
walla fell  on  the  field  of  battle.  After  the  victory, 
Oswald's  right  to  reign  over  the  two  kingdoms  was 
no  longer  doubted.  He  inherited,  too,  something,  we 
cannot  say  how  much,  of  his  predecessor's  superiority,^ 
and  stands  accordingly  sixth  in  Bede's  list  of  the 
Bretvvaldas. 

Oswald's  reign  was  short,  lasting  only  for  nine 
years,  or,  eight  only,  if  we  exclude  "the  unhappy 
year,"  as  it  was  afterwards  called,  when  paganism  was 
in  the  ascent.  He  was  overthrown  by  the  same  king 
who  had  defeated  and  slain  Edwin.  The  struggle 
was  for  East  Anglia,  if  it  did  not  actually  take  place  in 
that  region,  and  it  was,  in  its  chief  motive,  a  struggle 
of  the  old  faith  against  the  new.  East  Anglia  had 
acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  Oswald,  and  Penda 
of  Mercia  marched  into  it.  The  East  Anglian  king, 
Sigebert,  had  retired  into  monastery ;  but  the  people 

'  We  hear  of  his  standing  sponsor  for  Cynegils  of  Wessex,  and  of  his 
confirming,  in  the  character  of  Bretwalda,  that  prince's  gift  of  Dorchester 
(of  the  Thame)  to  Birinus.  Bede  also  speaks  of  his  having  compelled 
the  Picts  and  Scots  to  do  him  homage. 


136    THE  NORTHUMBRIAN  BRETWALDAS. 

insisted  that  he  should  leave  his  cell  to  lead  them  into 
battle.  He  so  far  consented  that  he  joined  the  army, 
but  he  refused  to  carry  any  arms.  He  was  slain  in 
the  battle,  his  army  was  routed,  and  his  kingdom 
passed  for  a  time  into  the  hands  of  Penda,  Oswald 
marched  against  the  conqfTeror,  and  met  him  at 
Maserfield,  a  place  x^nah  has  Ollii  uaiiuu^t>  located 
at  Oswestry  in  Shropshire,  Winwick  in  Lancaohiro, 
nnd  Mir^-H  in  Ynrlr-ihir--  The  battle  went  against 
the  Northumbrians,  and  Oswald  ^  was  slain,  exclaim- 
ing, it  is  said,  with  his  last  breath,  "  Lord,  have  mercy 
on  the  souls  of  my  people." 

Penda  marched  eastward,  ravaging  as  he  went,  till 
he  came  to  the  strong  fortress  of  Bamborough.  Un- 
able to  take  it  by  assault,  he  had  a  vast  pile  of  com- 
bustibles heaped  up  by  its  walls,  and  set  fire  to.  It 
was  through  the  prayers  of  St.  Aidan,  as  the  legend 
goes  on  to  say,  that  the  direction  of  the  wind  was 
suddenly  changed,  and  the  place  saved.  Oswald  died 
in  642,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Oswy, 
seventh  and  last  of  the  Bretwaldas. 

For  some  time  Oswy  seemed  to  have  little  claim  to 
the  rank  or  power  implied  in  this  title.  He  had 
troubles  at  home.     He  had  to  divide  Northumbria 

»  A  beautiful  story  is  told  of  Oswald.  Sitting  one  day  at  the  table 
with  St.  Aidan,  he  was  told  that  a  crowd  of  poor  was  waiting  at  his 
gate  and  asking  for  alms.  The  king  commanded  that  the  dishes,  of 
which  the  guests  had  not  yet  begun  to  partake,  should  be  divided  among 
the  poor,  and  even  broke  up  into  small  pieces  the  great  silver  dish 
which  had  been  placed  before  him,  and  distributed  the  fragments.  The 
saint  caught  the  king's  right  hand  in  his  own  and  said,  **  iMay  the  hand 
that  has  done  this  thing  never  decay  ! "  and  when,  by  Penda's  orders, 
the  hmbs  of  the  dead  king  were  exposed  on  stakes  till  they  rotted,  the 
hand  which  had  been  thus  blessed  was  found  uncorrupted. 


DEFEAT  OF  PENDA. 


137 


with  a  rival  belonging  to  the  ancient  house  of  Ella, 
Oswin  by  name.     For  six  years  Oswin  ruled  Deira, 
and  when,  after  an  unsuccessful  rebellion  against  his 
superior,  he  was  put  to  death,  was  succeeded  by  a 
son  of  Oswald.     The  death  of  Oswin  took  place  in 
651.     Penda,  too,  was  growing  more  powerful.     He 
had  subjugated    Wessex,  and  had  even  induced  its 
king  to  renounce  Christianity.     When  he  threatened 
Northumbria,  and  indeed  went  so  far  as  to  invade  it, 
he  was  bought  off  by  presents,  and  by  the  surrender 
of  hostages.      Alliances,  too,  of  marriage,  knit  the 
two   kingdoms    more   closely  together.     The   eldest 
son  of  Oswy  married   the   daughter  of  Penda,  and 
Penda's   son,    Peada,    became    the    husband    of    his 
daughter,    after  having  first  received  baptism.     But 
Penda,  though  in   his  latter  years  he  showed  some- 
thing like  tolerance  of  the  new  faith,  could  not  submit 
to  the  supremacy  of  a  Christian  overlord,  and  such  a 
supremacy  seemed  at   hand.     In  655  (he  was  then 
nearly  eighty  years  old)  he  marched  into  Northumbria, 
and    met   Oswy   near    Leeds.      The   Northumbrian 
vainly  endeavoured  to  appease  him  with   gifts   and 
offers  of  submission.    He  declared  that  nothing  would 
satisfy  him  but  the  extermination  of  the  whole  nation. 
The  battle  was  long  and  furious.     Thirty  chieftains, 
British  and  English,  had  followed  Penda  to  the  battle, 
and  of  these  two  only  survived,  one  of  them  being  a 
Northumbrian    chieftain  who  had  gone  over   to  the 
enemy,  but  who,  6n  the  morning  of  the  battle,  re- 
pented of  his  treachery.      The  old  king  was  swept 
from   the   field   by  the   crowd   of  fugitives.      Many 
perished  in  the  battle  and  in  the  field  ;  many  more  in 


i 


II 


138 


THE   NORTHUMBRIAN  BRETWALDAS. 


the  river  Aire,  which  was  then  in  flood.  Its  waters  were 
afterwards  said  to  have  avenged  the  five  kings,  who  had 
perished  by  the  sword  of  the  old  pagan.  Two  events 
quickly  followed  on  Penda's  death.  Mercia  became 
Christian,  and  Oswy's  dignity  as  Bretwalda  became  a 

reality. 

For  some  years  Mercia  seems  to  have  been  actually 
subject  to  the  Northumbrian  king,  and  to  have  been 
governed  by  his  deputies.     Then  the  Mercian  nobles 
took  Wulfere,  youngest  son  of  Penda,  who  had  been 
living   in  concealment,  and   put  him  on   the  throne. 
The   Middle   Angles   and    Lincolnshire  returned   to 
their  allegiance.     We  hear,  too,  of  domestic  strife  in 
Oswy's    family,   his    son    claiming    an    independent 
kingdom,  and  even  turning,  or  threatening  to  turn, 
his  arms  against  his  father.     Another  trouble  which 
came   upon    him    in    his  later   years   was   the  great 
pestilence  that  raged  through  the  island  in  664.     In 
670  he  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Egferth,  his  son. 
A  few  words  will  now  suffice  to  finish  the  story  of 
Northumbria  as  the  leading  power  in  England.     At 
first,  Egferth  inherited  the  power  and  more  than  the 
power  of  his   father.     Wulfere  of  Mercia  was  com- 
pelled to  own  his  superiority,  and  to  surrender  to  him 
the  newly  occupied  districts  of  Mid  Anglia  and  Lincoln- 
shire.    Then  he   attacked   the  Welsh   tribes   on  his 
north-western  borders,  and  added  the  whole  or  part 
of  the   ancient    British  kingdom  of  Cambria  to  his 
dominions.     In  the  pride  of  his  success  he  resolved  to 
push  his  conquests   still  further.     He  marched  into 
the  territory  of  the  Picts,  who  occupied  the  country 
north  of  a  line  between  the  Clyde  and  the  Forth,  where 


THE   HISTORY  OF  NORTHUMBRIA   ENDS.       I39 

the  wall  of  Severus  had  once  stood.  The  Pictish 
king  retired  before  the  invaders  till  they  were  en- 
tangled in  the  mountains.  Then  he  turned  upon 
them.  The  battle  was  fought  at  a  place  which  is 
called  Dumnechtan  by  Bede.  Egferth  and  his 
Northumbrians  were  defeated,  it  may  be  said,  cut  to 
pieces.  Scarcely  a  messenger  escaped  to  tell  the 
tidings  of  disaster  at  his  home.  The  king  was  buried 
at  lona.  With  his  fall  on  May  20,  685,  the  history  of 
Northumbria  comes  practically  to  an  end. 


ETHELRED  AND   CEOLRED. 


141 


XIV. 

THE  SUPREMACY  OF   MERCIA. 

Something  has  been  said  of  VVulfere,  son  and 
successor   of   Penda,  in    the   preceding   chapter  ;    of 
the  changes  of  fortune  which  befell  him  in  his  deal- 
ings with  Northumbria,  and  which  caused  him,  first 
to  recover,  and  then  to  lose  again,  power  which  his 
father  had  held.    Much  the  same  thing  happened  to 
him  in  relation  to  Wessex.     Cenwalh,  king  of  that 
country,   had   been   driven    from    his   dominions   by 
Penda,   "  because    he   had    forsaken   his  sister."     On 
Penda's  death,  after  an  exile  of  three  years,  he  re- 
turned,  and    began   at   once   to   extend    his    power 
westwards  by  attacks  upon  the  Welsh.     In  661   he 
came  into  collision  with  Wulfere,  who  defeated  him 
at  Partesbury,  in  Shropshire.     The  Mercians  ravaged 
the  country  of  the  West  Saxons  as  far  as  Ashdown. 
Curiously  enough,  when  we  remember  what  had  been 
the  conduct  of  Penda,  this  victory  of  Mercia  helped 
forward    the   spread    of  Christianity.     The  King  of 
Sussex  was  persuaded  or  constrained  to  accept  the 
new  faith,  and  Wulfere,  who  had  stood  sponsor  for 
him  at  his  baptism,  bestowed  upon  his  godson  the 
Isle   of  Wight,  which   he   had    recently   conquered. 
That  a  Mercian  king  should  bestow  the  sovereignty 


of  the  Isle  of  Wight  at  his  pleasure  shows  how  com- 
plete was  his  mastery  over  his  southern  neighbours. 
Before  his  death,  which  happened  in  675,  after  a 
battle  with  the  West  Saxons  at  Bedwin,i  Wulfere's 
power  had  greatly  declined  in  the  South  as  well  as  in 

the  North. 

Ethelred,  brother  and  successor  of  Wulfere,  seems 
to  have  recovered  much  that  his  predecessor  had 
lost.  We  hear  of  him  ravaging  Kent,  struggling 
with  Egfrid  of  Northumbria  for  the  middle  region 
of  England,  and  finally,  in  704,  resigning  his  crown 
to  become  a  monk.  He  died  twelve  years  afterwards. 
Abbot  of  Bardney,  in  Lincolnshire. 

Ethelred's  successor,  Ceonred,  son  of  Wulfere,  fol- 
lowed his  example  of  retiring  from  his  throne.     In 
709,  when  his  cousin  Ceolred,  son  of  Ethelred,  was 
old  enough   to   reign,  he  went  on  a  pilgrimage   to 
Rome,  received   the  monastic   habit  from  the  Pope 
of  that  time,  and  died  shortly  afterwards  in  that  city. 
In  Coelred's  short  reign  (709-716)  there  seems  to 
have  been  a  decline  in  the  Mercian  power,  due,  per- 
haps,  to  the  character  of  the  king.     He   seems  to 
have   been  a  man  of  violent  temper   and  evil   life. 
Wessex  appears  no  longer  as  an  inferior  power,  but 
as  contending  with  Mercia  on  equal  terms.     The  two 
met  in  battle  at  Wednesbury,  in  Shropshire.     Both 
sides  claimed  the  victory,  which,  however,  inclined  to 
the  West  Saxons.     This  was  in  715  ;  the  next  year, 
Ceolred  was   smitten    with   sudden    madness   as   he 
was  feasting  with  his  thanes,  and  died  very  soon  after. 

'  Biedanheafod  in  the  Chroiud?.     Bedwin  is  on  the  edge  of  Saver- 
nake  Forest,  in  Wiltshire. 


1^2 


THE   SUPREMACY  OF  MERCIA. 


Ceolred's  successor,  Ethelbald,  was  descended  from 
a  brother  of  Penda.     He  had  been  banished,  or  had 
fled  from  the  kingdom  to  save  his  life,  and  had  taken 
refuge  with  Guthlac,  a  famous  hermit,  himself  a  prince 
of  the  royal  house  of  Mercia,  who  had  fixed  his  cell 
at  Croyland,    in    Lincolnshire.      Guthlac    had   com- 
forted him  in  his  day  of  trouble  with  the  assurance 
that  the    day  of  better   things    would    come  before 
long,   and    the    promise   was    now    fulfilled,    for   the 
Mercian    nobles   called    him    to    the    empty   throne. 
His  long  reign    of  forty-one    years  was   a   struggle 
for   the    supremacy  of    England  ;    and    showed   the 
same  variety  of  fortune  that  we  see  in    the  earlier 
efforts  of  the  same  kind.     None  of  the  English  king- 
doms were  yet  strong  enough  to  keep  as  well  as  to 
gain  this  position  of  command.     The  Chronicle,  at 
this  time  always   a  meagre  record,  says  v^ry  little 
about    Mercia;   but    under   the    year    732   we    find 
"  Ethelbald  captured  Somerton,"  doubtless  the  town 
from  which  Somersetshire  took  its  name,  and  there- 
fore in  the  heart  of  VVessex.     This  victory  seems  to 
be,  so  to  speak,  the  high-water  mark  of  his  power. 
Ethelbald   now  described  himself  as  "King,  not  of 
the    Mercians    only,    but    of    all    the    neighbouring 
peoples   who   are   called  by  the   common    name   of 
Southern    English."     To   this    dominion    he    wished 
to  add  that  of  Northern   England.     In  735  we  are 
told   that   "he  ravaged   the   land  of  the  Northum- 
brians."    More  he  was  not  able  to  do.     And  it  was 
not  long  before  his  power  in  the  South  was  broken. 
The   scanty   records   of    the   Chronicle   are   a   little 
perplexing.     They  seem  to  point  to  a  war  succeeded 


EDILHUN   THE    WEST   SAXON. 


143 


by  an  alliance.     In  741  "  Cuthred  succeeded  to  the 
kingdom  of  the  West  Saxons,  and  held  it  for  sixteen 
years,  and  he  warred   boldly  against  the  Mercians." 
Two  years  afterwards  we  read  :  "  Ethelbald,  King  of 
the  Mercians,  and  Cuthred,  King  of  the  West  Saxons, 
fought  against  the  Welsh."     It  is  possible  that  in  the 
earlier  of  these  two  entries  the  Chronicler  is  antici- 
pating an   event  which   really  belonged   to   a   later 
period  in  the  new  king's  reign,  but  which  he  men- 
tions at  once,  because  it  was  chief  title  to  be  remem- 
bered.    In   751    Ethelbald   invaded   Wessex  with  a 
numerous  army,  in  which   he   had   enrolled,  besides 
his  own  people,  men  of  Kent,  East  Saxons,  and  East 
Angles.     The  West  Saxons  met  him  at  Burford,  in 
Oxfordshire.     Ingulphus^  tells   a  picturesque  story, 
which  bears,  indeed,  a  suspicious  resemblance  to  an 
incident   of    the    later    history   of    how    Edilhun,   a 
gigantic  West  Saxon,  bearing  in  his  hand  the  golden 
dragon  which  was  the  cognizance  of  his  race,  struck 
down  the  standard-bearers  of  the  Mercian  host,  and 
how,  later  in  the  day,  when  chance  brought  Ethel- 
bald and  the  West   Saxon  champion   together,  the 
King  turned  and  fled,  and  so   decided  the   fate  of 
the    battle.     Three    years    afterwards    we    hear    of 
another   battle   at    Seekington,  in   Warwickshire,  in 
which   King   Ethelbild  was  slain.     It  is  significant 
that   the   scene   of   the   war  <s   now   transferred   to 
Mercian  territory.^ 

The    Chronicler    thus    continues    the   history  :— 

=«  Lingard  thinks  that  the  battle  of  Seekington  was  not  fought  between 
Mercians  and  West  Saxons,  but  between  Ethelbald  and  a  pretender  to 
the  throne,  the  Beornred  who  succeeded  him. 


1l 


li 


a 


144  THE   SUPREMACY  OF  MERCIA. 

«  Beornrcd  succeeded  to  the  kingdom,  and  held  it 
little  while,  and  unhappily;  and  in  the  same  year 
Offa  drove  out  Beornred,  and  succeeded  to  the  king- 
dom, and  held  it  thirty-nine  winters." 

Offa  is  with  the  possible  exception  of  Penda,  the 
greatest  figure  among  the  Mercian  kings.  A  romantic 
story  is  told  how  that  he  was  born  blind,  how,  as  years 
went  on,  it  was  found  that  he  was  dumb  and  a  cripple, 
and  how  he  gained  sight  and  speech  and  activity 
when  he  had  to  deliver  his  native  land  from  the  usur- 
pations of  Beornred.  He  belonged  to  the  roya 
house,  being   descended   from    Eawa,  a  brother   of 

Penda. 

Offa  at  once  set  himself  to  recover  the  supremacy 
which   had   been   lost   for  a  time   by  the  defeat   at 
Burford.     We   first   find   him    contending   with   the 
Hastingas,  probably    South    Saxons    who   inhabited 
the   district  which   still  preserves  their  name  under 
the  form   of  Hastings.     Then  he   turned   his   arms 
against  Kent.     In  the  year  773  "the  Mercians  and 
the  Kentish  men  fought  at  Otford."^     The  result  of 
the  battle  was  a  decided  victory  for   Offa.     Before 
long  he  felt  himself  strong  enough  to  grapple  with 
the  great  power  of  Southern    England,  ior   in  777 
Cynewulf    [King   of  Wessex]   and    Offa   fought    at 
Benson   or    Bensington,^   and  Offa   took  the  town 
The  town  was  one  of  the  residences  of  the   West 
Saxon  kings,  and  the  event  marks  a  distinct  advance 
of  Mercian  power. 

X  Ctford  is  on  the  Darent,  about  three  miles  north  of  Sevenoaks 
«  Benson  is  now  a  little  village  on  the  Thames,  not  far  from  the  town 
of  Wallingford,  in  Berkshire. 


offa's  eminence. 


145 


His  next  campaign  was  against  his  British  neigh- 
bours on  the  West.  And  in  this  he  won  a  victory 
which  has  left  a  memorable  trace  behind  it  in  the 
work  known  as  Offa's  Dyke,  the  remains  of  which 
are  still  to  be  seen.  ^  He  had  conquered  the  king 
of  the  region  of  Powys,  taking  from  him  his  capital 
of  Shrewsbury,  then  called  Pengwern.  This  country 
he  peopled  with  English  settlers,  and  for  their  pro- 
tection he  made  a  rampart  and  ditch  which  reached 
from  the  Severn  to  the  Dee.  Some  kind  of  acknow- 
ledgment of  superiority  seems  also  to  have  been 
made  by  the  kings  of  Northumbria,  but  we  hear  of 
no  expedition  of  Offa  in  that  direction. 

But  the  most  remarkable  proof  of  Offa's  eminence 
is  the  attention  which  his  proceedings  attracted  from 
Charles  the  Great.  We  are  told  that  when  he  was 
invading  Kent  he  was  met  by  the  messengers  of 
Charles,  whose  help  had  been  asked  by  the  Kentish 
king,  and  commanded  to  stop  his  advance.  The 
command  was,  as  has  been  seen,  unheeded.  But  not 
long  after  we  find  Charles  sending  a  friendly  letter, 
with  costly  presents,  to  "  the  most  powerful  ruler  of 
the  West,"  as  he  styles  him.^  Offa  sent  presents  in 
return,  and  we  find  him  sanctioning  a  conveyance  of 
land  made  by  one  of  his  subjects  in  favour  of  the 


ii 


^  Kington,  in  Herefordshire,  is  one  of  the  places  where  the  "  Dyke" 
is  still  to  be  seen.  The  line  which  it  took  is  different  from  the  present 
boundary  between  England  and  Wales,  but  not  to  any  great  extent.  It 
may  be  said  that  substantially  pushed  back  the  Welsh  within  the  limits 

which  they  still  occupy. 

=  We  have  these  and  other  particulars  from  Alcuin,  a  great  scholar 
of  Northumbrian  birth,  who  for  many  years  was  attached  to  the  Court 
of  Charles  the  Great,  or  employed  by  him  on  various  missions. 


146 


THE   SUPREMACY  OF  MERCIA, 


lit 


Abbey  of  St.  Denis,  and  the  gift  by  another,  Alder- 
man of  Sussex,  of  the  revenues  from  the  harbours  of 
Hastings  and  Pevensey.     On  the  other  hand,  we  hear 
of  offences  given  by  the  English  king  to  the  pride  of 
the  great  king.      Charles  asked  for  his  son  of  the 
same   name   the  hand  of  one   of  Offa's    daughters. 
Offa  returned  for  answer  that  he  could  grant  it  only 
on   the   condition  that   his  son    Egferth   should   be 
allowed  to   marry  Bertha,  Charles's  own   daughter. 
The  demand,  for  some  reason  which  it  is  not  very 
easy  to  see,  was   considered   to  offend   against  the 
dignity  of  the  Prankish   king.      Relations  between 
the   two   Courts  were   broken   off  for  a   time,   and 
threats  were  made  that  all  trade  between   England 
and    French   ports   would   be    stopped.     Thanks   to 
Gerwold,  a  Churchman,  who  was  then  in  charge  of 
the  French  customs,  and  Alcuin,  who  naturally  acted 
as  mediator  between  his  host  and  his  countrymen, 
a  good  understanding  was  restored. 

In  another  direction  Offa  made  an  effort  to 
strengthen  his  position,  which,  had  it  been  successful, 
must  have  had  most  important  consequences.  One 
obstacle  to  Mercia  becoming  the  chief  state  in  Eng- 
land was  the  disposition  of  ecclesiastical  power.  The 
primacy  of  the  English  Church  was  settled  at  Canter- 
bury in  a  state  remote  from  Mercia,  and  owning  a 
special  allegiance  to  Wessex.  If  any  prelate  could 
dispute  the  superiority  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, it  was  the  Archbishop  of  York,  and  York  was 
in  Northumbria.  Offa,  accordingly,  conceived  the 
idea  of  founding  an  archbishopric  in  his  own 
dominions  which   should   take  the   first   place.     He 


.^^ 


146 


THE   SUPREMACY  OF  MERCIA. 


Abbey  of  St.  Denis,  and  the  gift  by  another,  Alder- 
man of  Sussex,  of  the  revenues  from  the  harbours  of 
Hastings  and  Pevensey.     On  the  other  hand,  we  hear 
of  offences  given  by  the  English  king  to  the  pride  of 
the  great  king.      Charles  asked  for  his  son  of  the 
same   name   the  hand  of  one   of  Offa's    daughters. 
Offa  returned  for  answer  that  he  could  grant  it  only 
on    the   condition   that   his  son    Egferth   should   be 
allowed  to   marry  Bertha,  Charles's  own   daughter. 
The  demand,  for  some  reason  which  it  is  not  very 
easy  to  see,  was   considered   to  offend   against  the 
dignity  of  the   Prankish   king.      Relations  between 
the   two   Courts  were   broken    off   for  a   time,    and 
threats  were  made  that  all  trade  between   England 
and    French   ports   would   be    stopped.     Thanks    to 
Gerwold,  a  Churchman,  who  was  then  in  charge  of 
the  French  customs,  and  Alcuin,  who  naturally  acted 
as  mediator  between  his  host  and  his  countrymen, 
a  good  understanding  was  restored. 

In    another    direction    Offa    made    an    effort    to 
strengthen  his  position,  which,  had  it  been  successful, 
must  have  had  most  important  consequences.     One 
obstacle  to  Mercia  becoming  the  chief  state  in  Eng- 
land was  the  disposition  of  ecclesiastical  power.     The 
primacy  of  the  English  Church  was  settled  at  Canter- 
bury  in  a  state  remote  from  Mercia,  and  owning  a 
special  allegiance  to  Wessex.     If  any  prelate  could 
dispute  the  superiority  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, it  was  the  Archbishop  of  York,  and  York  was 
in    Northumbria.      Offa,   accordingly,  conceived    the 
idea    of    founding     an    archbishopric    in     his    own 
dominions  which   should   take  the   first   place.     He 


k 


HIUMiHtaHlii^Mi 


tAiim 


« 


148 


THE  SUPREMACY  OF  MERCIA. 


sent  an  embassy  to  the  Pope  (Adrian   I.),   arguing 
that   the    Mercian    bishops    should   be  subject   to  a 
Mercian   head,   and    proposing   an    arrangement    by 
which  Rochester,  London,  Selsey  (Chichester),  Win- 
chester,  and    Sherburne   (Salisbury),  should   be   left 
suffragans  of  Canterbury,  while  all  the  sees  between 
the  Thames  and  the  Humber  should  be  subjected  to 
the  new  Archbishopric  of  Lichfield.     The  Pope  gave 
his  consent  to  the  plan,  and  sent  the  pall,  the  symbol 
of  archiepiscopal   authority,   to   Adulph,    Bishop   of 
Lichfield.      The   concession    was    acknowledged    by 
the    promise    of    a   yearly    gift    of   three    hundred 
and   sixty-five  mancuses  ^  to    the   Holy   See.      The 
arrangement  lasted  but  a   short   time,   and  Canter- 
bury regained,  and  has  ever  since  retained,  its  old 

honours. 

Family  alliances  wei.^  another  way  in  which  Offa 
sought  to  extend  his  power,  but  they  had  unhappy 
results.  Elfleda,  who  married  the  king  of  Northum- 
bria,  shortly  became  a  widow.  Eadburga,  the  wife 
of  Brehtric,  king  of  the  West  Saxons,  poisoned  her 
husband  by  a  draught  which  she  intended  for  his 
favourite.2  The  story  of  the  third  daughter,  Edel- 
frida,  is  not  less  tragical.  Ethelbert,  the  young  king 
of  East  Anglia,  came  to  the  Mercian  Court  to  sue  for 

»  A  mancHS  was  equal  to  thirty  pennies. 

^  Eadburga  is  said  to  have  fled  to  the  Court  of  Charles  the  Great. 
Charles  is  said  to  have  asked  her  whether  she  would  have  his  son  or 
himself  for  a  husband.  She  answered  that  she  preferred  the  son.  "  If 
you  had  chosen  me,"  answered  the  king,  "you  should  have  had  my 
son."  Afterwards  he  made  her  abl>ess  of  a  nunnery.  From  this  she 
was  expelled  for  misconduct,  and  finally  she  died  a  beggar  in  the  city 
of  Pavia. 


ftiE  FATE   OF  EDELFRIDA, 


U5 


her  hand.  His  mother  had  vainly  warned  him  of  his 
danger  ;  but  the  friendly  letters  of  Ofifa  and  the  safe 
conduct  which  he  sent  had  made  him  neglect  her 
advice.  He  was  hospitably  received.  But  at  night, 
when  he  had  retired  to  his  chamber,  a  messenger  came 
summoning  him  to  an  interview  with  the  king,  who 
desired,  he  said,  to  confer  with  him  on  some  matter 
of  importance.  The  young  man  followed  the  mes- 
senger without  suspicion.  On  his  way  he  was  assas- 
sinated. The  princess  whom  he  had  sought  in 
marriage  retired  from  her  father's  Court,  and  spent 
the  remainder  of  her  days  in  the  nunnery  at  Croyland. 
Offa  protested  his  innocence  of  this  atrocious  crime, 
and  honoured  the  murdered  man  by  erecting  a  splendid 
tomb  over  his  remains  in  the  church  of  Hereford.  But 
the  common  voice  fixed  the  guilt  of  the  deed  upon  him, 
and  attributed  to  the  vengeance  which  followed  it  the 
utter  destruction  of  his  house. 

Two  years  afterwards  he  died.  His  son  Egferth, 
who  had  been  associated  in  the  kingdom  nine  years 
before,  succeeded  him,  but  died  within  half  a  year  of 
his  accession.  Thus  the  race  of  Offa  became  extinct. 
Even  the  bones  of  the  king,  it  was  commonly  be- 
lieved, were  not  permitted  to  remain  in  peace.  A 
flood  swept  them  away  from  the  chapel,  near  Bedford 
on  the  Ouse,  in  which  they  had  been  buried. 

Of  Offa's  successor,  Cenwulf,  little  need  be  said. 
He  retained  his  supremacy  over  Kent,  reducing  that 
kingdom  to  subjection  when  it  rebelled  against  him. 
But  the  scheme  of  the  Lichfield  primacy  was  given 
up,  and  Canterbury  regained  its  old  honours.  The 
Chronicler  tells  us  that  he  treated  the  rebel  king  of 


I50  THE  SUPREMACY  OF  MERCIA. 

Kent  with  great  severity.^  But  generally  he  was  a 
wise  and  prudent  sovereign.  But  the  days  of  Mercian 
superiority  were  over.  Not  many  years  after  his 
death,  which  took  place  in  >I9,  the  pre-eminence 
passed,  as  we  shall  see,  to  Wessex. 

«  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  all  the  words  which  describe  his  acts  ot 
cruelty  are  not  found  in  all  MSS. 


% 


XV. 


CAEDMON,  BEDE,  AND  CUTHBERT. 

It  will  be  a  relief  to  turn  for  a  while  from  the 
record  of  battle,  which  makes  up  so  large  a  portion 
of  the  story  of  these  times,  to  say  a  few  words  about 
three  men  who  may  be  said  to  represent  the  poetry, 
the  general  literature  and  science,  and  the  religion 
of  the  old  English  people.  For  a  more  detailed 
account  of  these  matters  the  reader  must  of  course 
go  elsewhere  ;  but  it  will  not  be  departing  from  the 
purpose  of  my  "  story  "  if  I  give  a  few  pages  to  them 
here. 

The  story  of  Caedmon  the  Poet  will  be  best  intro- 
duced by  giving  some  account  of  the  place  where  he 
exercised  his  calling,  .and  this  account  easily  connects 
itself  with  the  narrative  which  has  already  been  given. 
Before  the  great  battle  which  was  to  end  in  the  defeat 
and  death  of  Penda,i  the  Bretwalda  Oswy  had  vowed 
that  he  would  dedicate  to  the  service  of  God  his 
infant  daughter  Elfleda.  The  victory  won,  he  gave 
over  the  child  to  the  care  of  Hilda,  Abbess  of  the 
convent  of  Hereten  (Hartlepool),  herself  a  lady  of  the 
royal  house,  and  daughter  of  one  of  those  who  had 

'  See  p.  137. 


152  CAEDMON,  BEDE,  AND   CUTHBERT. 

first  followed  Edwin  of  Northumbria  in  his  acceptance 
of  the  Christian  faith.     A  few  years  afterwards  Hilda 
migrated  with  her  young  charge  to  a  place  further 
to  the  south,  where  she   had   acquired   some   land. 
The  spot   is  now   known    by   its   Danish   name  of 
Whitby.     It  was  then  called   by  one  that  signified 
-  the  light  on  the  hill."    Here  she  founded,  and  ruled 
until  her  death  in  680,  the  famous  Abbey  of  Whitby. 
It   was   during   the   latter  part  of  this   period   that 
Caedmon  the  Poet  is  supposed  to  have  "  flourished." 
It  is  from  Bede  that  we  hear  the  story  of  how  he 
got  his  calling  to  sing,  for  a  calling  it  emphatically 

was 

He  was   a  man   of   middle   age;  an    uneducated 

peasant,  "  whose  talk,"  as  the  author  of  the  "  Book  of 
Wisdom"  puts  it,  "  had  been  of  bullocks."   Of  all  men 
he  seemed  the  least  likely  to  have  in  him  any  gift 
of  song.     He  had  never  learnt  any  poem,  and  when 
at  a  feast  the  custom  was  observed  that  all  should 
sing  in  their  turn,  he  would  quit  his  place  when  he  saw 
the  harp  approaching,  and  go  to  his  home.     It  was 
on  such   an  occasion   that   he  had  quitted  a  merry 
company,   going  out    to   look    after   the    beasts  of 
burden— the  horses  and  oxen— of  the  guests,  of  which 
he  had  undertaken  the  charge.     As  he  slept,  after 
doing  his  work,  one  stood  by  him,  and  said,  "  Caed- 
mon,  sing  me  something."     "I  cannot   sing,"   said 
Caedmon,  «  and  indeed  I  have  come  hither  from  the 
feast,  because  I  could  not  sing."     Then  he  who  spake 
with  him  said  again,  "Yet  you  shall  sing  to  me." 
*What,"  said  he,  "shall    I    sing.?"     The  other  said, 
"Sing  the  origin   of  creatures."     On   hearing  this 


CAEDMON'S   VISION. 


153 


answer,  he  began  forthwith  to  sing  in  praise  of  God 
the  Creator  verses  of  which  this  is  the  sense.  "  Now 
ought  we  to  praise  the  Author  of  the  heavenly 
kingdom,  the  power  of  the  Creator  and  His  wisdom, 
the  acts  of  the  Father  of  glory— how  He,  through  the 
Eternal  God,  became  the  Author  of  all  wonder,  the 
Almighty  Guardian,  who  created  for  the  sons  of  men 
first  heaven,  to  be  their  roof,  and  then  the  earth.'* 
This  is  the  meaning,  but  not  the  order,  of  the  verses 
which  he  sang  in  his  sleep. 

In  the  morning  the  peasant,  who  had  thus  become 
a  poet,  went  to  the  steward  of  the  town  lands,  and 
told  him  of  his  vision  and  of  the  power  which  had 
thus  been  called  out  in  him.  The  steward  took  him 
to  Hilda  the  Abbess,  and  Hilda  bade  him  tell  her  his 
dream  and  recite  his  verses  in  the  presence  of  some 
men  of  learning  whom  she  summoned  to  hear  him. 
They  all  recognized  the  reality  of  his  gift,  but  by 
way  of  further  trial  set  him  another  task,  a  sacred 
history  or  doctrine  which  he  was  to  turn  into  verse. 
This  task  he  performed.  Then  the  abbess  advised 
that  he  should  become  a  monk  and  enter  the  monas- 
tery. This  he  did,  and  in  the  monastery  he  spent 
the  rest  of  his  days,  days  which  he  occupied  with  this 
his  calling  of  sacred  song.  For  "  he  sang,"  says  Bede, 
"  of  the  creating  of  the  earth,  and  the  beginning  of 
mankind,  and  of  all  the  history  of  Genesis,  and  of  the 
going  out  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  and  of  their  entering 
into  the  Promised  Land,  and  of  many  other  histories 
of  Holy  Scripture,  as  of  the  Incarnation  and  Passion 
and  Resurrection  and  Ascension  of  our  Lord,  and  of 
the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  the  teaching 


154  CAEDMON,  BEDE,  AND  CVTHBERT. 

of  the  apostles.  Also  he  made  poems  of  the  terror 
of  the  judgment  to  come,  and  of  the  terrors  of  hell, 
and  of  the  sweetness  of  the  heavenly  kingdom." 

He  died,  we  may  guess,  in  the  year  of  Hilda's  own 
death.     For  fourteen  days  he  lay  sick.     Those  about 
him  did  not  think  that  the  end  was  near,  but  he  bade 
them  carry  him  into  the  chamber  to  which,  accordmg 
to  the  custom  of  the  monastery,  the  dying  were  re- 
moved     Then  he  asked  whether  they  had  the  Holy 
sacrament  at  hand.     They  doubted  whether  he  was 
so  near  to  death  as  to  need  to  take  it.     But  he  asked 
again  for  it  ;  after  forgiveness  asked  for  himself  from 
all  whom  he  might  have  wronged,  and  in  like  manner 
given  to  all,  he  received  the  communion,  and  shortly 
afterwards  passed  peacefully  away  in  his  sleep. 

Criticism  has  been  busy  with  the  poem  attributed 
to  Caedmon,  and  has  not  come  to  any  certain  con- 
clusion.    Briefly  stated,  the  matter  stands  thus :  We 
have  Bede's  account,  as  given  above,  his  paraphrase  (m 
Latin)  of  some  of  Caedmon's  verses,  and  his  account 
of  the  whole  poem.     Then  we  have,  in  King  Alfred's 
translation  of  Bede,  some  old  English  verses,  which 
are  probably  a  metrical  rendering  of  Bede's  prose,  but 
which,  it  is  possible,  may  be  quoted  from  the  original 
poem 'itself.     Finally,  we  have  a  manuscript,  dating 
from  somewhere  in  the  eleventh  century,  which  con- 
tains  such  a  poem  as  Caedmon  is  described  as  having 
written.      Whether  it  is  his,   or   imitated  from   his 
original,  or  written  by  some  later  poet  on  the  lines  laid 
down  by  Bede,  are  questions  which  are  not  to   be 
discussed  in  this  place.     I  shall  content  myself  with 
giving  some  idea  of  this  work-a  great  work,  beyond 


POETRY  OF  CAEDMON. 


155. 


question,  whoever  may  have  been  its  author,  which  1 
quote  from  Professor  Henry  Morley's  version  : 

**  But  after  as  before  was  peace  in  Heaven, 
Fair  rule  of  love  ;  dear  unto  all  the  Lord 
Of  Lords,  the  King  of  Hosts,  to  all  His  own, 
And  glories  of  the  good  who  possessed  joy 
In  Heaven  the  Almighty  Father  still  increased. 
Then  peace  was  among  dwellers  in  the  sky, 
Blaming  and  lawless  malice  were  gone  out, 
And  angels  feared  no  more,  since  plotting  foes, 
Who  cast  off  Heaven  were  bereft  of  light. 
Their  glory  seats  behind  them  in  God's  realm, 
Enlarged  with  gifts,  stood  happy,  bright  with  bloom. 
But  ownerless  since  the  cursed  spirits  went 
Wretched  to  exile  within  bars  of  Hell. 
Then  thought  within  His  mind  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
How  He  again  might  fix  within  His  rule 
The  great  creation,  thrones  of  heavenly  light 
High  in  the  heavens  for  a  better  band. 
Since  the  proud  scathers  had  relinquished  them. 
The  holy  God,  therefore,  in  His  great  might, 
Willed  that  there  should  be  set  beneath  heaven's  span, 
Earth,  firmament,  wide  waves,  created  world. 
Replacing  foes  cast  headlong  from  their  home." 

And  here  is  the  poet's  grim  description  of  the  place 
of  torment.  It  may  be  noticed  how  he  mingles  with 
the  Hebrew  notion  of  the  penal  fire,  the  Scandinavian 
fancy,  bred  amidst  the  rigours  of  a  northern  climate, 
of  a  penal  frost  : 

**  The  fiend,  with  all  his  comrades,  fell 
From  Heaven  ;  angels,  for  three  nights  and  days 
From  Heaven  to  Hell,  where  the  Lord  changed  them  all 
To  devils,  because  they  His  Deed  and  Word 
Refused  to  worship.     Therefore  in  worse  light, 
Under  the  earth  beneath,  Almighty  God 
Had  placed  them  triumphless  in  the  swart  HelL 
There  evening,  immeasurably  long, 


bede's  life. 


157 


o 

Pi 
< 


H 
■Ji 

< 

o 
S  ^ 

O     ^ 

i  I 

z: 

<: 

u 

s 

z 

o 

<: 


f 


L 


Brings  to  each  fond  renewal  of  the  fire  ; 

Then  comes,  at  dawn,  the  east  wind  keen  with  frost, 

Its  dart,  or  fire  contiuual,  torment  sharp, 

The  punishment  wrought  for  them,  they  must  bear." 

Bede  (Baeda)  was  born  at  Jarrow,  in  Northumbria,^ 
in  the  year  673,  on  the  land  which  was  afterwards 
given  by  King  Egferth  2  to  the  monastery  of   that 
place.     When  seven  years  old  he  was  handed  over  to 
Benedict  (surnamed  Biscop),  who  was  thm  occupied 
in   founding  the    monasteries    of    Wearmouth     and 
jarrow.      He  was  first  placed  in  one  at  Wearmouth, 
the  Jarrow  house  not  being  then  built.     He  was  an 
inmate  of  one  or  other  of  them  for  the  rest  of  his  life, 
and  indeed  seems  very  seldom  to  have  quitted  their 
walls.     That  life  was,  as  we  shall  see,  busy,  but  it 
had  few  incidents.     In  his  nineteenth  year  he  was 
ordained  .deacon  (the  usual  age  was  twenty-five),  and, 
in  his  thirtieth,  priest.     Study  and  devotion  occupied 
all  his  days,  and  the  list  of  what  he  did  shows  that  his 
learning  and  his  industry  were  marvellous.     For  his 
studies  indeed  he  had  remarkable  advantages,  which 
could  hardly  have  been  found  elsewhere  in  England 
at  that  time.     Benedict,  the  first  abbot  of  the  two 
monasteries,  had  brought  with  him  a  library  of  books 
from  Rome  and  Vienne,  and  had  established  relations 
with  various  seats  of  learning  at  home  and  abroad. 
"  Nowhere  else  could  he  acquire  at  once  the  Irish,  the 
Roman,  the  Gallican,  and  the  Canterbury  learning."  3 
Of  these  he  made  such  ample  use,  that  he  may  be 
justly  called  the  father  of  English  learning. 

'  Jarrow  is  the  parish,  of  which  South  Shields,  in  Durham,  is  a 
part.  ^  See  p.  138. 

3  "  Dictionary  of  Christian  Biography  "  (Bede). 


\ 


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I 


BEDE*S  LIFE.  157 

Brings  to  each  fond  renewal  of  the  fire  ; 

Then  comes,  at  dawn,  the  east  wind  keen  with  frost, 

Its  dart,  or  fire  contiuual,  torment  sharp, 

The  punishment  wrought  for  them,  they  must  bear. " 

Bede  (Baeda)  was  born  at  Jarrow,  in  Northumbria,^ 
in  the  year  673,  on  the  land  which  was  afterwards 
given  by  King  Egferth  2  to  the  monastery  of   that 
place.     When  seven  years  old  he  was  handed  over  to 
Benedict  (surnamed  Biscop),  who  was  thm  occupied 
in   founding  the    monasteries    of    Wearmouth     and 
jarrow.      He  was  first  placed  in  one  at  Wearmouth, 
the  Jarrow  house  not  being  then  built.     He  was  an 
inmate  of  one  or  other  of  them  for  the  rest  of  his  life, 
and  indeed  seems  very  seldom  to  have  quitted  their 
walls.     That  life  was,  as  we  shall  see,  busy,  but  it 
had  few  incidents.     In  his  nineteenth  year  he  was 
ordained  .deacon  (the  usual  age  was  twenty-five),  and, 
in  his  thirtieth,  priest.     Study  and  devotion  occupied 
all  his  days,  and  the  list  of  what  he  did  shows  that  his 
learning  and  his  industry  were  marvellous.     For  his 
studies  indeed  he  had  remarkable  advantages,  which 
could  hardly  have  been  found  elsewhere  in  England 
at  that  time.     Benedict,  the  first  abbot  of  the  two 
monasteries,  had  brought  with  him  a  library  of  books 
from  Rome  and  Vienne,  and  had  established  relations 
with  various  seats  of  learning  at  home  and  abroad. 
"  Nowhere  else  could  he  acquire  at  once  the  Irish,  the 
Roman,  the  Gallican,  and  the  Canterbury  learning." 3 
Of  these  he  made  such  ample  use,  that  he  may  be 
justly  called  the  father  of  English  learning. 

'  Jarrow  is  the  parish,  of  which  South  Shields,  in  Durham,  is  a 
part.  '^  See  p.  138. 

3  "  Dictionary  of  Christian  Biography  "  (Bede). 


158  CAEDMON,   BEDE,   AND   CUTHBERT. 

In  734  he  made  one  of  the  very  few  journeys, 
possibly  the  only  journey  of  his  life,  to  pay  a  visit 
to  Egbert,  Archbishop  of  York.  The  object  of  this 
unusual  exertion— and  it  is  probable  that  his  health 
was  even  then  failing— was  to  promote  the  advance- 
ment of  knowledge.  Egbert  was  then  meditating  the 
work  by  which  he  has  earned  the  gratitude  of  all 
English-speaking  peoples— the  foundation  of  the 
great  School  or  University  of  York,  the  chief  home 
of  learning  in  these  islands,  while  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge were  nothing  more  than  petty  market-towns, 

if  indeed  so  much. 

In  the  Easter  of  the  yearfollowing  this  visit,  Bede's 
days  were   manifestly  drawing  to  a  close.      But  he 
laboured  on  to  the  last.     The  pathetic  story  of  his 
last  hours,  told  as  it  has  been  often  before,  must  not 
be  omitted  here.     He  was  busy  at  the  time  with  a 
translation  of  the  Gospel  of  John  into  the  English 
tongue  (this  translating  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  the 
chief  forms  of  devotion  into  the  speech  of  the  people 
was  a  thing  very  near  to  his  heart).     It  is  one  of  his 
disciples,  Cuthbert  by  name,  who  tells  the  story.      He 
goes  on  :    "  When    the   Tuesday  before  the    Ascen- 
sion of  our  Lord  came,  he  began  to  suffer  still  more 
in  his  health,  and  a  small  swelling  appeared  in  his 
feet ;  but  he  passed  all  that  day  and  dictated  cheer- 
fully, and  now  and  then,  among  other  things,  said  : 
'Goon  quickly;  I  know  not  how  long  I  shall  hold 
out,  and  whether  my  Maker  will  not  soon  take  me 
away.'     But  to  us  he  seemed  very  well  to  know  the 
time  of  his   departure  ;  and  so  he  spent  the  night, 
awake,  in  thanksgiving ;  and  when  the  morning  ap- 


I 


. 


THE   STORY   OF  BEDE'S  DEATH. 


159 


peared— that  is,  Wednesday— he  ordered  us  to  write 
with  all  speed  what  he  had  begun,  and  this  done,  we 
walked  till  the  third  hour  with  the  relics  of  saints, 
according  to  the  custom  of  that  day.     There  was  one 
of  us  with  him,  who  said  to  him  :  '  Most  dear  master, 
there  is  still  one  chapter  wanting  ;  do  you   think  it 
troublesome  to  be  asked  any  more  questions  ?  '     He 
answered:  'It  is   no  trouble.     Take  your  pen,  and 
make  ready,  and  write  fast.'    Which  he  did,  but  at  the 
ninth  hour,  he  said  to  me,  '  I  have  some  little  articles 
of  value  in   my  chest,  such  as  pepper,  napkins,  and 
incense  :    run   quickly,  and  bring  the  priests  of  our 
monastery  to  me,  that  I  may  distribute  among  them 
the  gifts  which  God  has  bestowed  on  me.     The  rich 
in  this  world  are  bent  on  giving  gold  and  silver  and 
other  precious  things  ;  but  I,  in  charity,  will  joyfully 
give  my  brothers  what  God  has  given  unto  me.'     He 
spoke  to  every  one  of  them,  admonishing  and  entreat- 
ing them  that  they  would  carefully  say  masses  and 
prayers  for  him,  which  they  readily  promised  ;  but 
they  all   mourned    and   wept,  especially  because  he 
said,   'They   should  no    more   see   his    face    in    this 
world.'      They    rejoiced    for    that    he    said,  '  It    is 
time   that    I   return    to    Him    who    formed    me    out 
of  nothing.     I   have  lived  long,  my  merciful   Judge 
well  foresaw  my  life  for  me  ;  the  time  of  my  dissolu- 
tion draws  nigh  ;  for  I  desire  to  die,  and  to  be  with 
Christ'     Having  said  much  more,  he  passed  the  day 
joyfully  till  the  evening ;  and  the  boy,  above  men- 
tioned, said  :  '  Dear  master,  there  is  yet  one  sentence 
not  written.'     He  answered  :  '  Write  quickly,'     Soon 
after,  the  boy  said, '  It  is  finished.'     He  replied  :  '  It 


I 


l6o  CAEDMON,  BEDR,  AND  CUTHBERT. 

is  well ;  you  have  said  the  truth.     It  is  finished.     Re- 
ceive my  head   into  your  hands,  for  it  is  a  great 
satisfaction  to  me  to  sit  facing  my  holy  place,  where  I 
was  wont  to  pray,  that  I  may  also,  sitting,  call  upon 
my  Father  !    And  thus,  on  the  pavement  of  his  little 
cell,  singing  :  '  Glory   be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the 
Son.  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost ; '  when  he  had  named 
the  Holy  Ghost,  he  breathed  his  last,  and  so  departed 
to  the  heavenly  kingdom.   All  that  beheld  the  blessed 
father's   death,   said  that   they  had  never  seen  any 
other  expire  in  so  much  devotion  and  tranquillity.'    ^^ 
Bede's  great  work  was  his  "  Ecclesiastical  History, 
"the  most  valuable  historical  work  produced  in  this 
country  previous  to  the  seventeenth  century,"  to  quote 
Dr.  Giles's  estimate  of  it.     It  is  addressed  to  Ceol- 
wulf,  King  of  Northumbria,  and  carries  down  the 
history  of  this  country  as  far  as  the  year  731-     Of 
the  thorough  honesty  of  purpose   with  which  it  is 
written  there  can  be  no  question  ;  nor  of  the  zeal  with 
which  the  author  sought   for   information  from  all 
available  sources.     He  had  his  prepossessions.     He 
attributes,  it  may  well  be  thought,  too  great  a  share  in 
the  conversion  of  England   to   Augustine  and  the 
missionaries  of  Rome;    he   gives,  accordingly,   too 
little  credit  to  the  labours  of  the  British  preachers. 
But  he  always  did  his  best  to  tell  the  truth  as  he 
knew  it ;  and  no  one  can  hesitate  to  allow  what  he 
asks  of  the  reader  :  "  That  if  he  shall,  in  this  that  we 
have  written,  find  anything  not  delivered  according  to 
the  truth,  he  will  not  impute  the  same  to  me,  who,  as 
the  true  rule  of  his.ory  requires,  have  laboured  sin- 
cerely to  commit  to  writing  such  things  as  I  could 


I 


THE   WORKS  OF  BEDE. 


161 


gather  from  common  report  for  the  instruction  of  pos- 
terity." To  him,  indeed,  we  owe,  in  fact,  almost  all 
the  light  we  have  on  the  doings  of  the  English  people 
for  nearly  the  first  three  centuries  after  their  coming 

to  this  island. 

The  other  works  of  Bede,  excepting  his  biographies 
of  St.    Cuthbert  and  of  the   abbots  of  Jarrow    and 
Wearmouth,   have   in   themselves   little   interest   for 
readers   to-day,   but  they   show  how   great  was   his 
learning.     Among  them  are  Commentaries  on  many 
of  the  books   of  Scripture,  elementary  treatises  on 
such  subjects  as  orthography  and  the  rules  of  verse, 
scientific  treatises  on  the  Seasons,  the  Equinox,  Leap 
Year,   &c.,    hymns    and    epigrams.       It    would    be 
scarcely  too  much  to  say  that  he  had,  in  as  great  a 
degree  as  it  has  been  given  to  any  man  to  acquire  it, 
all   the   knowledge   of  his  time.     He  wrote,  for  the 
most  part,  in  Latin,  and  of  that  language  his  know- 
ledge was  large,  and,  for  an  uncritical   time,   exact 
Its    best    authors,   especially   the    poets,   were   well 
known   to  him.     He  knew  something  too  of  Greek 
and  of  Hebrew.     But  with  all  his  knowledge  of  other 
languages  he   had   a  strong  love   of  his  own.      His 
translations  of  the  Scripture  into  English  are  unfor- 
tunately lost ;    but  how  dear  this  work  was   to  his 
heart  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  his  last  days 
were  given  to  it» 

Cuthbert  was  a  contemporary  of  Caedmon,  though 
probably  a  little  later,  having  been  born  about  the 
year  625.  He  was  a  native  of  Northumbria.  This, 
it  must  be  remembered,  in  those  days,  reached  as  far 
as  the  Forth,  and  Cuthbert  was  born  on  what  is  now 


< 

z 


o 

en 
Z 


CUTHBERT'S   EARLY  HISTORY. 


163 


the  Scottish  side  of  the  Border.  In  early  manhood 
he  seemed  to  see,  as  he  was  shepherding  his  flock  by 
night,  a  vision  of  angels  carrying  a  soul  to  glory. 
The  next  day  he  heard  that  Bishop  Aidan  had  passed 
away  at  the  very  moment  when  he  had  seen  the 
vision.  Immediately  he  went  to  the  monastery  of 
Melrose,^  a  dependent  house  of  the  Abbey  of  Lindis- 
farne.  He  was  admitted  into  the  brotherhood,  and 
soon  became  known  for  his  devotion  and  energy. 
About  660  he  went  with  his  Abbot  Eata  and  other 
monksto  occupy  a  new  foundation  which  aprinceof  the 
royal  house  of  Deira  had  just  founded  at  Ripon.  Their 
stay  was  brief ;  the  founder  had  adopted  the  Roman 
views  about  the  time  of  observing  Easter  ;  Cuthbert 
and  his  companions  held  to  the  views  which  they  had 
learnt  from  Columba.^  They  would  not  give  way, 
and  the  founders  sent  them  back  to  Melrose.3  The 
year  of  their  return  (it  probably  took  place  early  in 
661)  was  a  year  of  pestilence.  Among  its  victims  at 
Melrose  was  Boisil,  the  Prior.  Cuthbert  was  elected 
into  his   place.     For  three  years  he  was  diligent  in 

X  This  was  not  the  house  the  romantic  ruins  of  which  Scott  has 
made  so  famous,  but  an   earlier  foundation  in  a  spot  known  as  Old 

^^'^The  question  about  Easter  is  far  too  complicated  to  be  discussed 
here  Vrous  ways  of  reckoning  the  time  for  observing  this  festiva 
hive  been  used  in  he  Church.  There  was  a  cycle  of  eight  ano.her  of 
Jh^  f::r  atd  a  third  of  nineteen  years.  The  second  of  these  was 
that  to  which  Columba  and  his  d.soples  adhered.  The  third  was 
backed  by  the  authority  of  Rome,  and  is  that  now  employed. 

3  Afterwards  Cuthbert  changed  his  views  and  came  over  to  the 
Romtn  u!e.  We  find  him  denouncing  in  the  strongest  terms  those 
who  till  held  to  his  old  views,  ranking  them,  in  fact,  with  the  worst 
Ttode    ,  a  quite  unworthy  of  the  fellowship  of  Christian  men. 


Z 

a: 
< 

■Ji 

a 

O 

•75 

D 


CUTHBERT'S   EARLY   HISTORY. 


163 


the  Scottish  side  of  the  Border.     In  early  manhood 

he  seemed  to  see,  as  he  was  shepherding  his  flock  by 

night,  a  vision  of  angels  carrying   a  soul    to  glory. 

The  next  day  he  heard  that  Bishop  Aidan  had  passed 

away  at  the  very   moment  when   he   had    seen    the 

vision.     Immediately  he   went  to    the  monastery  of 

Melrose,'  a  dependent  house  of  the  Abbey  of  Lindis- 

farne.     He  was  admitted  into  the  brotherhood,  and 

soon  became   known  for   his   devotion    and    energy. 

About  660  he  went  with  his  Abbot  Eata  and  other 

monks  to  occupy  a  new  foundation  which  a  prince  of  the 

royal  house  of  Deira  had  just  founded  at  Ripon.  Their 

stay  was  brief ;  the  founder  had  adopted  the  Roman 

views  about  the  time  of  observing  Easter  ;  Cuthbert 

and  his  companions  held  to  the  views  which  they  had 

learnt  from    Columba.^     They  would  not    give  way, 

and  the  founders  sent  them  back  to  Melrose.3     The 

year  of  their  return  (it  probably  took  place  early  m 

661)  was  a  year  of  pestilence.     Among  its  victims  at 

Melrose  was  Boisil,  the  Prior.     Cuthbert  was  elected 

into  his   place.     For  three  years  he  was  diligent  in 

I  This  was  not  the  house  the  romantic  ruins  of  which  Scott  has 
made  so  famous,  but  an   earlier  foundation  in  a  spot   known  as  Old 

"'^The  question  about  Easter  is  far  too  complicated  to  be  discv^sed 
here  Various  ways  of  reckoning  the  time  for  observing  this  festival 
have  been  used  in  the  Church.     There  was  a  cycle  of  eight   another  of 

that  to  which  Cohimba  and  his  disciples  adhered.  The  third  was 
backed  by  the  authority  of  Rome,  and  is  that  -w  employed 

3  Afterwards  Cuthbert  changed  his  views  and  came  over  to  the 
Roman  u!e.  We  find  him  denouncing  in  the  strongest  terms  those 
who  tillTe  d  to  his  old  views,  ranking  th.m,  in  fact  with  the  worst 
Tffende    .  as  quite  unworthy  of  the  fellowship  of  Christian  men. 


ifjMJ^i  Ia-■^■.J.^■J.•^^•».Mtf  ■'.■•y,: 


i 


164  CAEDMON,  BEDE,  AND  CUtHBERf. 

missionary  work,   going  forth  from   his   cell   in   the 
monastery,  often  for  weeks  at  a  time,  to  preach  to  the 
ignorant  people  round  him.     These  journeys  led  him 
as  far  as  Pictland  on  the  West  Coast.     In  664  he  was 
removed  from  Melrose  to  be  Prior  of  the  parent  house 
at  Lindisfarne.     This  post  he  filled  for  twelve  years, 
employing  himself  in  the  same  works  of  charity  and 
piety  which  had  occupied  his  time  at  Melrose.     In 
678  he  seems  to  have  felt  that  his  duty  to  man  had 
been   fulfilled,   that  thenceforward   he  might  devote 
himself  to  the  care  of  his  own  soul.     He  retired  to  a 
solitary  cell  which  he  fixed,  first  on  a  lonely  spot  on 
the   mainland,   then    on    the  uninhabited  island   of 
Fame,  a  few  miles  to  the  south  of  Lindisfarne.      His 
own  abode  was  a  cell  of  the  narrowest  dimensions 
into  which  no  one  was  permitted   to   enter ;  it   was 
furnished  with  an  oratory,  and  surrounded  by  a  wall 
which  shut  out  all  prospect  of  sea  or  land.     But  for 
his   visitors— and  the   fame  of  his  sanctity  brought 
many  visitors  to  the  spot— he  raised  a  humble  build- 
ing.    But  it  was  seldom  that  they  were  permitted 
to  see  him.     Now  and  then,  when  there  seemed  to  be 
some  urgent  reason  for  granting  the  boon,  he  would 
show  his  face  and  give  his  blessing. 

In  this  solitude  he  dwelt  for  eight  years.  In  684 
he  was  persuaded  to  leave  it  to  fill  the  office  of  bishop 
to  which  he  had  been  chosen  at  the  Synod  of  Twyford. 
To  persuade  him,  indeed,  was  no  easy  task.  King 
Egferth  had  to  come  in  person  and  urge  him  to 
accept  the  office.  His  old  superior,  too,  Eata,  Bishop 
of  Lindisfarne,  resigned  his  see  to  him,  taking  in 
exchange  the  bishopric  of  Hexham.     For  something 


THE   ABBOT   OF   LINDISFARNE, 


165 


less  than  two  years  he  stayed  at  Lindisfarne  ;  then 
he  resigned  his  see,  and  went  forth  to  his  cell  at 
Fame.  In  February,  6S6,  about  two  months  after 
his  return,  he  was  seized  with  his  last  sickness.  The 
abbot  of  Lindisfarne  went  to  see  him  and  received 
his  directions  about  his  burial.  Then  he  left  him 
promising  soon  to  return.  But  stormy  weather  pre- 
vented him  from  fulfilling  his  promise  for  five  days. 
When  he  came,  weakness  had  mastered  the  old  man's 


ST.  cuthbert's  cross. 

love  of  solitude.  Cuthbert  was  waiting  for  him  in 
the  building  which  he  had  erected  for  his  guests. 
He  had  been  there  all  the  time,  longing  for  his 
return.  He  consented,  too,  to  the  abbot's  leaving 
some  of  the  brethren  behind  to  minister  to  his  wants. 
A  second  time  the  abbot  returned  to  Fame,  for  he 
saw  that  the  end  was  near,  and  he  was  anxious  to 
change  the  dying  man's  purpose  about  his  remains. 


l66  CAEDMON,  BEDE,  AND   CUTHBERT. 

Hitherto   he  had  commanded   that   they  should  be 
buried  near  his  cell  ;  now  he  consented  to  their  being 
taken  to  Lindisfarne.     The   reason  he  gave   for^  his 
former   wish  is  curiously  characteristic  of  the   time. 
He  had  not  grudged  the  monastery  anything  that  he 
could  give  it,    but   he  had   thought  of  what   would 
be  to  its  good.     His  fame,  he  was  sure,  would  lead 
to  a  sanctuary  being  established  wherever  his  bones 
might  be  laid.     Criminals   would   flee   to   them   for 
safety,  and  the  brethren  would  have  trouble  with  the 
civil  power.     The  dying  man  was  then  taken  into  his 
oratory,   where  one  of  the  monks  watched  by   him. 
Then  the  abbot  was  called  in  to  hear  his  last  words. 
About  midnight  on  the  20th  of  March  he  died.     He 
had  lingered  nearly  three  weeks  after  the  first  attack 
of  his   disease.     The  abbot  waved  a  torch  in  either 
hand  as  a  signal  to  the  watchmen  at  Lindisfarne,  and 
he   hurried  into  the  church  where   the   monks  were 
assembled  to  tell  the  news.     The  next  day  the  body 
was  brought   to  the   monastery  and   buried   by   the 
altar.     It  now   rests  at  Durham.     The   story   of  its 
wanderings— for  Cuthbert  in  his  last  hours  had  en- 
joined on  the  abbot  that  the  brotherhood  must  never 
leave  it— belongs  to  a  later  time,  to  a  time  when  the 
Danes  were  a  constant  terror  to  the  land. 


XVI. 


THE  ENGLISH   PEOPLE. 


It  is  time  to  say  something  of  the  political  and 
social  condition  of  the  people  which  has  now  settled 
itself  permanently  in  Britain,  though  it  must  be 
premised  that  some  of  the  details  belong  to  a  later 
time. 

It  may  be  considered  certain  that  the  English 
tribes,  while  dwelling  in  their  first  home,  knew 
nothing  of  kings.  There  was  a  noble  and  a  non- 
noble  class  among  them,  individuals  of  the  former 
rising  doubtless  from  time  to  time,  by  the  force  of  great 
abilities  and  on  occasion  of  great  national  emergency, 
to  a  commanding  position.  But  there  was  no  per- 
manent monarchy.  But  this  was  changed  by  the 
migration  to  their  new  dwelling-place.  Perhaps  it 
may  be  said  that  the  emergencies  that  called  for  the 
institution  of  kingship  became  permanent.  Any- 
how, we  find  the  chieftains  who  led  their  successive 
bodies  of  invaders  becoming  kings  of  this  or  that 
region  conquered  by  them,  and  the  monarchy  is 
hereditary,  though  not  by  any  strict  principle  of 
succession  such  as  now  prevails.     A  minor  could  be 


M 


I 


1 68 


THE   ENGLISH   PEOPLE. 


k 


ti- 


b"  * 


passed  over  in  favour  of  an  older  kinsman,  whose  af^e 
more  fitted  him  for  the  post  ;  a  weak  prince  might  be 
set  aside.  But,  as  time  went  on,  convenience  dic- 
tated a  more  strict  observance  of  the  hereditary 
principle,  election  being  found  in  practice  to  give 
rise  to  troubles  and  disputes.  But  we  never  find  an 
assertion  of  what  may  be  described  as  the  Jus 
divinum  of  the  pedigree.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
should  be  noticed  that  all  the  English  kings,  whether 
tribal  or  national,  belonged  to  a  limited  caste.  They 
all  claimed  to  be  descended  from  Woden. 

The  kingdom  was  what  we  call  a  constitutional 
monarchy,   exactly   the   "  hereditary    kingship    with 
well-defined  prerogatives  "  of  Thucydides.     The  king 
was  the  chief  magistrate  in  peace,  the  chief  leader  in 
war.     His  actual   power  differed  much  with  the  in- 
dividual who  exercised   it,  but  it  was  military  rather 
than  civil,  nearly  absolute  in  the  field,  sharply  limited 
in  civil  matters  to  the  administration  of  justice.     But 
the  theory  of  his  power  continued  to  develop.     In 
the  earliest  times  he  was  so  far  on  a  level  with  his 
subjects,  that  his  life  could  be  assessed  like  theirs, 
only  at  a  higher  price.     The  "  wer-gild,"  or  blood- 
money  of  a  king,  was  put  at  7,200  shillings,  that  of  a 
ceorl  at  two  hundred.     The  special  sanctity  of  later 
days  had  not  been  invented.       But  various  causes, 
native   and    foreign,    were    at    work    developing    it. 
Before  the  Conquest,  it  had  a  rudimentary  existence. 
The  eorl  or  earl  ^  was  the  chief  man  of  the  village, 

'  This  word  must  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  "earl"  of  later 
times,  a  title  taking  its  origin,  we  may  suppose,  from  the  Danish  "jarl," 
and  superse  1  i  ng  the  older  designation  of  ' '  alderman,"  or,  more  properly, 
"earldorman." 


fe-3-lj  111  1 1 

iil1lfl 

'^  M     ff       .    /4      ^      ^. 

'  ^jci  o  p  ^  v^^i 
1^-    iQ    o    A 


i 


11 


1 68 


THE   ENGLISH   PEOPLE. 


passed  over  in  favour  of  an  older  kinsman,  whose  a^^^e 
more  fitted  him  for  the  post  ;  a  weak  prince  might  be 
set  aside.     But,   as  time   went  on,  convenience  dic- 
tated   a   more    strict    observance   of    the   hereditary 
principle,  election   being    found    in    practice  to  give 
rise  to  troubles  and  disputes.     But  we  never  find  an 
assertion    of    what    may    be    described    as    the  jus 
divinum  of  the  pedigree.      On    the   other   hand,    it 
should  be  noticed  that  all  the  English  kings,  whether 
tribal  or  national,  belonged  to  a  limited  caste.     They 
all  claimed  to  be  descended  from  Woden. 

The  kingdom   was   what  we  call   a  constitutional 
monarchy,   exactly   the   "  hereditary    kingship    with 
well-defined  prerogatives  "  of  Thucydides.     The  king 
was  the  chief  magistrate  in  peace,  the  chief  leader  in 
war.     His  actual   power  differed  much  with  the  in- 
dividual who  exercised   it,  but  it  was  military  rather 
than  civil,  nearly  absolute  in  the  field,  sharply  limited 
in  civil  matters  to  the  administration  of  justice.     But 
the  theory  of  his  power  continued  to  develop.     In 
the  earliest  times  he  was  so  far  on  a  level  with  his 
subjects,  that  his   life  could  be  assessed  like  theirs, 
only  at  a  higher  price.     The  "  wcr-gild,"  or  blood- 
money  of  a  king,  was  put  at  7,200  shillings,  that  of  a 
ceorl  at  two  hundred.     The  special  sanctity  of  later 
days  had  not   been  invented.       But  various  causes, 
native   and    foreign,    were    at    work    developing    it. 
Before  the  Conquest,  it  had  a  rudimentary  existence. 
The  eorl  or  earl  ^  was  the  chief  man  of  the  village, 

*  This  word  must  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  "earl"  of  later 
times,  a  title  taking  its  origin,  we  may  suppose,  from  the  Danish  "jarl," 
and  superse  1  i ng  the  older  designation  of  ' '  alderman,"  or,  more  properly, 
"earldorman." 


. 


170 


THE   ENGLISH   PEOPLE. 


>: 


chief,  not  as  the  matre  of  a  French  village,  but  in 
virtue  of  an  hereditary  nobility.  And  he  was  superior 
in  wealth  as  in  birth.  The  earls,  in  fact,  were  a  terri- 
torial aristocracy,  who  administered  justice  in  times 
of  peace  (though  we  find,  as  time  goes  on,  professional 
judges  beginning  to  be  employed),  and  led  the  host 
in  times  of  war. 

The  churls  (ceorls)  formed  the  mass  of  the  com- 
munity. They  were  free ;  they  owned  land  ;  they 
had  the  right  to  bear  arms.  They  bore  the  same 
relation  to  the  earls  as  did  the  plebeians  to  the 
patricians  of  Rome.  Probably  they  may  be  traced  to 
the  same  origin  ;  they  were  late  incomers  into  the 
community  of  the  original  settlers. 

Under  the  churl  came  the  "  laet."     He  was  not  a 
freeholder  ;  he  tilled  the  land  of  another.     I  cannot 
do  better  than  describe  his  position  in  the  words  of 
Mr.  Green.     "  In   the  modern   sense  of  freedom  the 
laet  was  free  enough.     He  had  house  and  home  of 
his  own  ;  his  life  and   limb   were  as  secure  as  the 
ceorl's— save  as  against  his  lord  ;  it  is  probable  from 
what  we  see  in  later  laws,  that  as  time  went  on  he 
was  recognized  as  part  of  the  nation,  summoned  to 
the  folk-moot,  allowed  equal  right  at  law,  and  called 
like  the  full  freeman    to   the  hosting.     But  he  was 
unfree  as  regards  lord  and    land        He  had  neither 
part  nor  lot  in  the  common  land  of  the  village.     The 
ground  which  he  tilled  he  held  of  some  free  man  of 
the  tribe,  to  whom  he  paid  rent  in  labour  or  in  kind. 
And  this  man  was  his  lord.       Whatever   right   the 
unfree  villager  might  gain  in  the  general  social  life  of 
his  fellow-countrymen,  he  had  no  rights  as  against 


THE   SLAVE,    THE   THANE,   THE  ALDERMAN.    I7I 

his  lord.  He  could  leave  neither  land  nor  lord  at  his 
will.  He  was  bound  to  render  due  service  to  his  lord 
in  tillage  or  in  fight.  So  long,  however,  as  these 
services  were  done,  the  land  was  his  own.  His  lord 
could  not  take  it  from  him  ;  and  he  was  bound  to 
give  him   aid   and   protection   in   exchange   for  his 

services." 

Finally  came  the  slave.  Sometimes  he  would 
be  of  the  same  race  as  his  master,  one  who  had 
been  driven  in  hard  times  to  sell  himself  and  his 
family  for  bread,  or  who  had  been  condemned  to  a 
servile  condition  for  crime.  Sometimes  he  would  be 
a  captive  in  war.  Most  English  prisoners  would 
probably  be  sold  abroad,  as  in  the  case  of  those 
whom  Gregory  saw  in  the  slave-market  at  Rome  ;  but 
some,  doubtless,  would  be  kept  in  their  captor's 
households.  Then  there  would  be  some  descendants 
of  the  British  tribes  whom  the  English  invaders  had 
dispossessed.     The  slave  had  no  rights  ;  he  was  a 

living  chattel. 

Another  class  remains  to  be  mentioned,  that  of  the 
thanes  (thegns).  These  were  the  immediate  followers 
of  the  king  ;  they  may  be  described  as  a  non- 
hereditary  nobility,  raised  to  the  rank  they  bore  for 
service  done  to  the  king.  They  constituted  his  body- 
guard, and,  commonly,  his  personal  counsellors.  The 
steward,  the  cup-bearer,  the  armour-bearer,  would  be 
among  the  thanes  of  early  times.  Later  on,  we  find 
these  simple  functions  developed  into  what  may  be 
called  high  office  of  State. 

The  alderman  (earldorman)  was  the  chief  magis- 
trate of  a  shire  or  group  of  shires.    His  office  became 


172 


THE  ENGLISH  PEOPLE, 


I 


I 


more  defined  and  more  important  as  time  went  on. 
Originally  he  was  the  chieftain  of  a  hundred ;  and 
doubtless  there  were  aldermen  before  there  were  kings. 
He  became  in  after-times  the  vice-gerent  and  represen- 
tative of  the  king  for  a  certain  portion  of  his  dominions. 
This  growth  of  importance  goes,  of  course,  with  the 
growth  of  unity  in  the  monarchy.  The  greater  the 
king,  the  greater  the  alderman.  Finally,  we  see  him 
givi'^rig  place  to  an  official  of  similar  function  in  the 
earl  of  the  later  kingdom. 

The  free  citizens  met  in  assemblies,  town-moots, 
hundred-moots,  and  the  folk-moot.  The  supreme 
assembly,  or  Witenagemot,  was  originally  an  assembly 
of  the  whole  nation.  This  soon  became  an  impossi- 
bility. It  became  consequently  more  and  more 
representative  ;  but  the  old  principle  still  retained 
something  of  its  force.  When  king  and  nobles  and 
prelates,  the  wise  men  specially  called  to  take  part  in 
the  deliberations  of  the  assembly,  had  come  to  a 
decision,  that  decision  was  ratified  by  cries  and  clatter 
of  arms  from  the  body  of  freemen,  assembled,  not  so 
much    as    spectators    as    an    integral    part    of    the 

meeting.^ 

To  turn  to  social  matters,  it  may  be  said  that 
their  houses  were  small,  mean,  and  ill-built.  Thus  we 
find  a  king  compelled  to  protect  his  candles  from 
guttering  by  enclosing  them  in  lanterns.  The  whole 
story  is,  as  has  been  observed,  an  indication  of  the 


«  Perhaps  we  may  compare  them  with  the  presbyters  who  lay  hands 
on  candidates  for  ordination  along  with  the  bishops.  These  represent 
the  assenting  voice  of  the  whole  body  of  the  ministry. 


SOCIAL  MATTERS. 


173 


rudeness  of  their  domestic  appliances.  Some  of  their 
furniture  seems  to  have  been  of  an  ornamental  and 
even  splendid  kind.  Richly  coloured  curtains  were 
hung  upon  the  walls.  Carpets,  however,  were  almost 
unknown,  the  floors  being  covered  with  straw  or 
rushes.  Fresh  layers  were  put  over  the  old,  the  latter 
being  removed  but  seldom,  an  arrangement  which 
must  have  been  anything  but  cleanly,  and  must  have 
had  something  to  do  with  the  frequent  plagues  which 
we  hear  of  in  those  times,  and  with  the  generally 
shortness  of  almost  all  the  lives  the  beginning  and 
end  of  which  we  happen  to  know. 

The  seats  used  were  commonly  benches  or  stools. 
Chairs  with  backs  were  rare  luxuries.  Tables  were 
sometimes  of  a  costly  kind.  We  read  of  tables  of 
silver  and  gold,  and  of  one  particular  article  made  of 
silver,  that  was  worth  three  hundred  pounds.  But  the 
ordinary  articles  were  probably  rough  and  ill-made. 
We  hear  of  candlesticks  and  lanterns,  but  not  of 
lamps.     Handbells  also  were  in  use. 

Bed-linen  was  in  use,  at  least  among  the  wealthier 
class.  Mattresses  and  pillows  were  often,  if  not 
always,  made  of  straw.  For  warmth,  mats  and  bear 
skins,  with,  presumably,  skins  of  other  animals  were 

employed. 

The  ordinary  drinking  cup  was  probably  made  of 
horn  or  wood.  But  cups  of  gold  and  silver,  with 
dishes  and  basons  of  these  metals,  were  in  use  among 
the  rich,  and  at  the  high  tables  of  the  wealthier 
monasteries.  We  find  a  council  of  the  English 
Church  ordering  that  no  vessel  of  horn  should  be 
used   in   worship.     Glass   was    scarcely  known.     In 


1^%., 


6  -^ 


I 

3 


«5 

I 


THE   FOOD   OF   THE   PEOPLE. 


175 


Bede's  time  the  English  are  described  as  "  ignorant 
and  helpless  of  the  art  of  making  it." 

The  food  of  the  people  consisted  largely  of  flesh, 
and  of  flesh  probably  the  greater  part  came  from 
swine.  Swine  are  frequently  mentioned  in  great 
numbers,  as  forming  part  of  a  man's  wealth.  Thus 
a  nobleman  is  mentioned  as  bequeathing  two  thousand 
swine  to  his  daughter.  This  animal  would  be  par- 
ticularly useful  on  account  of  the  fitness  of  its  flesh 
for  salting.  It  must  be  remembered  that  for  a 
considerable  part  of  the  year  fresh  meat  was  un- 
known. In  this  we  may  trace  one  of  the  chief  causes 
of  disease  among  the  early  English. 

Fish  was  largely  in  use.  Most  of  the  freshwater 
kinds  with  which  we  are  now  familiar  occur;  but 
eels  have  the  same  predominance  among  them  as 
swine  among  land  animals.  Four  thousand  eels  are 
mentioned  as  having  been  given  by  the  monks  of 
Ramsay  to  the  monks  of  Peterborough.  It  is  prob- 
able that  freshwater  fish  was  used  then,  as  indeed  it 
continued  to  be  used  for  long  afterwards,  in  much 
greater  quantity  than  at  present.  Sea  fish  were  com- 
paratively rare,  the  appliances  for  catchmg  them 
being  ineflective.  Thus  we  hear  that  Wilfred  taught 
the  rude  people  of  Sussex  to  catch  fish  out  of  the 
sea,  a  thing  which  they  had  never  thought  of  doing. 
We  hear,  however,  of  salmon,  herrings,  and  of  the 
common  varieties  of  shell-fish.  Porpoises  too,  a  very 
rare  sight  in  these  days,  are  mentioned. 

Wheat  and  barley  were  grown  ;  but  the  use  of  the 
former  was  much  less  common  than  it  is  now.  We 
are  told  of  the  monks  of  a  certain  monastery  that 


2: 
o 

X 

6 
z 

z 

:3 


^'   .St 


I 


THE   FOOD   OF   THE   PEOPLE. 


175 


Bede's  time  the  English  are  described  as  "  ignorant 
and  helpless  of  the  art  of  making  it." 

The  food  of  the  people  consisted  largely  of  flesh, 
and  of  flesh  probably  the  greater  part  came  from 
swine.  Swine  are  frequently  mentioned  in  great 
numbers,  as  forming  part  of  a  man's  wealth.  Thus 
a  nobleman  is  mentioned  as  bequeathing  two  thousand 
swine  to  his  daughter.  This  animal  would  be  par- 
ticularly  useful  on  account  of  the  fitness  of  its  flesh 
for  salting.  It  must  be  remembered  that  for  a 
considerable  part  of  the  year  fresh  meat  was  un- 
known.  In  this  we  may  trace  one  of  the  chief  causes 
of  disease  among  the  early  English. 

Fish  was  largely  in  use.  Most  of  the  freshwater 
kinds  with  which  we  are  now  familiar  occur;  but 
eels  have  the  same  predominance  among  them  as 
swine  among  land  animals.  Four  thousand  eels  are 
mentioned  as  having  been  given  by  the  monks  of 
Ramsay  to  the  monks  of  Peterborough.  It  is  prob- 
able that  freshwater  fish  was  used  then,  as  indeed  it 
continued  to  be  used  for  long  afterwards,  in  much 
greater  quantity  than  at  present.  Sea  fish  were  com- 
paratively rare,  the  appliances  for  catching  them 
being  ineflective.  Thus  we  hear  that  Wilfred  taught 
the  rude  people  of  Sussex  to  catch  fish  out  of  the 
sea,  a  thing  which  they  had  never  thought  of  doing. 
We  hear,  however,  of  salmon,  herrings,  and  of  the 
common  varieties  of  shell-fish.  Porpoises  too,  a  very 
rare  sight  in  these  days,  are  mentioned. 

Wheat  and  barley  were  grown  ;  but  the  use  of  the 
former  was  much  less  common  than  it  is  now.  We 
are  told  of  the  monks  of  a  certain  monastery  that 


'WS^^9^^WS^Wff?^%?:'^S^'' 


176 


THE  ENGLISH  PEOPLE. 


they  ate  barley  bread  because  their  income  did  not  • 
permit  them  as  many  meals  as  they  needed  of  the 

wheaten  article. 

Among  the  other  articles  of  diet  we  find  milk, 
butter,  cheese,  and  honey.  To  these,  as  poultry  was 
kept,  we  may  add  eggs. 

The  diet  of  the  richer  class  was  probably  largely 
supplemented  by  game  of  various  kinds,  the  flesh  of 
the  deer  being  the  most  important.  Flying  game 
could  not  be  obtained  so  easily  when  it  had  to  be  shot 
with  the  arrow  or  brought  down  with  the  sling.  The 
most  nutritious  of  English  game  birds,  the  pheasant, 
was  not  introduced  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  huge 
bustard,  now  extinct  in  the  British  islands,  was  prob- 
ably common. 

Many  kinds  of  fruit  were  in  use.  Strawberries  and 
raspberries  are  indigenous  to  England,  but  probably 
were  not  then  improved  by  cultivation.  Apples  and 
pears  were  grown  in  orchards,  as  also  were  figs,  at 
least  in  parts  of  England  where  the  climate  favoured 
them.i  The  hazel-nut  is  of  native  growth.  The 
walnut  (as  its  name  "  foreign  nut "  indicates)  came 
from  abroad,  and  indeed  was  probably  introduced 
by  the  Romans,  to  whom  we  also  owe  the  cherry. 

Wine  was  also  largely  produced,  but,  as  we  can 
easily  believe,  not  of  a  first-rate  quality.  The  Nor- 
man  followers  of  William  the  Conqueror  provided 
themselves,  we  are  told,  with  a  large  quantity  of  wme, 
not  venturing  to  encounter  the  native  English  growth. 
The  common  drinks  of  the  people  were  ale  and 
mead,  the  latter  being  made  of  honey.     We  hear  also 

'  The  iig  grows  luxuriantly  in  Sussex. 


HUNTING,  HAWKS y  AND  HArPERS.  177 

of  cider,  made  from  the  juice  of  apples  ;  and  once  or 
twice  of  morat,  made  from  mulberries. 

They  sat  at  table,  the  women  eating  with  the  men. 
Spoons  and  knives  were  used.  Forks  are  the  in- 
vention of  a  much  later  age  (not  earlier  than  the  six- 
teenth century). 

The  chief  sport  was  hunting,  of  which  the  English 
were  fond,  but  not  with  the  passionate  devotion  that 
we  find  among  their  Norman  conquerors.  Deer  were 
frequently  caught  in  nets,  and  sometimes  brought 
down  with  arrows,  or  hunted  down  by  dogs.  Boars 
were  killed  with  spears.  Hawks  were  used  for  the 
capture  of  larger  birds,  especially  herons. 

Of  indoor  games  we  hear  of  none  but  a  kind  of 
draughts.  The  wealthy  had  harpers,  gleemen,  jesters, 
and  tumblers,  who  amused  them  at  their  meals  and 
during  the  long  drinking  bouts  which  commonly 
followed  them. 


STORY  OF  INA's  ABDICATION, 


179 


XVIL 

WESSEX   AND   EGBERT. 

Wessex  has  often  been  mentioned  in  the  chapters 
which  have  been  devoted  to  describing  the  rise  and 
fall  of  Northumbria  and  Mercia.     To   these  notices 
there  is  little  that  we  need  or  indeed  that  we  are  able 
to  add.     The  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  is  indeed  prin- 
cipally a  record   of  West  Saxon   doings,   but   it  is 
meagre  in  the   extreme   except   where   it  has    been 
supplemented  from  Bede,  and  Bede,  as  a  Northum- 
brian,  makes  little  mention  of  Wessex.     For  the  first 
fifty   years   after   the   deposition  of   Ceawlin  m  592 
the  West  Saxons  were  chiefly  occupied   in   warfare 
with  their  British  neighbours  on  the   west.     In  607 
we   hear  of  a   battle  with  the  South  Saxons,  which 
was  apparently  decisive  of  West  Saxon  superiority. 
Some  thirty  years  after  came  the  conversion  of  the 
royal  house  to  Christianity,  followed,  probably,  at  no 
long  interval  by  that  of  the  people.  In  672  we  have  the 
novel  incident,  novel  indeed  then,  but  not  at  all  out 
of  agreement  with  German  ways  of  thinking,^  of  a 

'  Tacitus  speaks  of  the  high  honour  in  which  the  Germans  held  their 
women  and  of  the  royal  power  which  they  sometimes  bestowed  upon 

them. 


reigning  queen.  King  Cenwalh  died,  and  Sexburh, 
his  queen,  reigned  for  one  year  after  him.  This  was 
in  672-3.  Fifteen  years  later  began  the  reign  of  the 
most  distinguished  of  the  kings  who  ruled  in  Wessex 
during  its  period  of  depression,  Ina.  He  reigned  for 
thirty-eight  years,  and  then  resigned  his  crown,  weary 
of  the  vanity  of  human  things.  His  supremacy,  at 
one  period  of  his  reign,  was  not  less  than  that  which 
had  been  exercised  by  his  predecessor  Ceawlin.  Kent, 
Sussex,  and  East  Anglia  owned  his  overlordship. 
On  the  west  he  pushed  the  Britons  back  beyond  the 
Parrct,  and  built  a  border  fortress  at  Taunton.  But 
civil  strife,  which  was  again  and  again  the  source  of 
weakness   among   the   West   Saxons,   disturbed   his 

latter  days. 

The  story  of  his  abdication  is  curious,  and  charac- 
teristic of  the  times.  He  and  his  queen  had  spent  the 
night  at  one  of  the  royal  palaces,  and  had  been  splen- 
didly entertained  by  its  keeper.  The  next  morning 
they  departed,  but  after  a  while  Ina  was  persuaded 
by  his  queen  to  turn  back.  When  they  reached  the 
palace  they  found  that  it  had  been  made  filthy  with  the 
dung  of  cattle,  while  in  the  royal  bed  a  sow,  with  its 
newly-farrowed  litter  of  pigs,  had  been  placed.  The 
warden  had  done  this  at  the  Queen's  order.  Ina 
turned  to  her  for  an  explanation  of  so  strange  a 
sight,  and  she  preached  him  a  sermon  on  the  vanity 
of  human  greatness,  the  quick  changes  which  bring 
high  things  low.  The  King  was  so  impressed  by  the 
discourse  and  its  forcible  illustration,  that  he  at  once 
carried  out  a  purpose  which  he  had  long  entertained  : 
he  laid  down  his  crown,  went  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome, 


} 


i8o 


WESSEX  AND   EGBERT, 


and  there  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  iu  practices 
of  devotion.  The  greatest  memorial  of  himself  which 
Ina  left  behind  him  was  his  code  of  laws,  founded  on 
the  institutions  of  his  people,  and  itself  made  the 
groundwork  of  more  complete  systems  by  the  rulers 
that  came  after  him.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  he  was  one  of  the  most  liberal  benefactors  of  his 
race   to  the  churches  and   monastic   foundations    of 

Wessex. 

All  that  is  essential  for  our  purpose  in  the  history 
of  the  next  sixty  years  has  already  been  told,  and  we 
may  pass  on  at  once  to  the  events  which  led  to  the 
restoration  of  the  supremacy  to  Wessex,  and  ulti- 
mately   to    the    union    of    the   country   under   one 

crown. 

Egbert,  son    of  Edmund,  sub-king   of  Kent,  and 

fourth  in  descent   from    Ingild,  brother  of  the  great 

Ina,  claimed,  or  had  claimed  on  his  behalf,  the  throne 

of  Wessex  on  the  death  of  Cynewulf  (784).     He  was 

then  a  boy,  according  to  one  account,  not  more  than 

nine  years  of  age.     The  people  preferred  his  kinsman 

Brihtric  ;  and  Egbert,  to  save  his  life,  fled  to  Offa,  King 

of  Mercia.     Offa,  though  he  would   not  give  him  up 

to  his  enemies,  was  unable  or  unwilling  to  shelter  him, 

and  the  young  prince  made  his  way  to  the  Court  of 

Charles  the  Great  (Charlemagne).     Charles  was  then 

in  the  midst  of  his  career  of  conquest,  and  Egbert, 

though  we  know  no  particulars  of  his  life  during  these 

years,  probably  served  in  his  armies.     But   Charles 

was  not  only  a  conqueror ;  he  was  a  ruler  also,  as 

great  in  peace  as  he  was  in  war.    The  countries  which 

he  subdued  he  made  into  a  great  empire,  divided  into 


V 


CHARLEMAGNE. 
(From  the  painting  by  DUrer.) 


I. So 


WESSEX   AXn    r.GBI-RT. 


and  there  spent  the  remainder  of  h\>  life  i\.  practices 
of  devution.  The  -reatcst  memorial  of  himself  w  hich 
Ina  left  behind  him  was  his  code  of  laws,  founded  on 
the  in>litutir»ns  of  his  proi>le,  and  it>elf  made  the 
^round.work  of  nmre  comi)Kte  s\stem^  b\-  tlie  rulers 
that  came  after  him.  lUil  it  nnist  not  be  fori^otten 
that  lie  was  onenf  the  most  liberal  benefactors  of  his 
race    to   the  churches   and    monastic    foundations    of 

VVesscx. 

All  that  is  essential  for  our  purp(\se  In  the  history 
of  the  next  sixty  years  has  already  been  told,  and  wc 
ma\-  pa^s  on  at  once  to  the  events  which  led  to  the 
rcstor.it ii.n  of  the  supremacy  to  Wcsscx,  and  ulti- 
mately   to    the    union    of    the    country    under   one 

crown, 

h:L;bert,  son    of   I'Ldmund,   subddn*^   of   Kent,  and 
fourth   \n  descent    from    In-ild,  brother  of  the  «,n-eat 
Ina,  claimed,  or  had  claimed  on  his  behalf,  the  throne 
of  Wessex  on  the  death  of  Cynewulf  (7S4K      He  was 
then  a  boy.  accordiiv^  to  unc  account,  not  more  than 
nine  yeari  of  a-e.     The  people  preferred  his  kinsman 
Ihihtric  ;  and  I'.-bert,  to  save  his  life,  lied  to  Offa.  Kin<^ 
of  Mercia.     OlTa,  thon-h  he  would    not  i^ive  him   up 
to  h\^  enemies,  was  unable  or  unwillin<::  to  shelter  him, 
and  the  youiv^  i)rince  made  his  way  to  the  Court  of 
Charles  the  Great  (Charlema-nc).     Charles  was  then 
m   th.e  midst  (»f  his  career  of  conciuest,  and   Ki^djcrt, 
thou-h  we  know  no  particulars  of  his  life  durini;  these 
years,  probably  served   in  his  armies.     Ikit    Charles 
was  not  only  a  conqueror;  he  was  a  ruler  also,  as 
^^-reat  in  peace  as  he  was  in  war.    The  countries  which 
he  subdued  he  made  into  a  great  empire,  divided  into 


CHAKl.KMAi.NE. 
(From  the  painting  by  Durer.) 


l82 


WLSSEX  AND  EGBERT, 


kingdoms,  duchies,  and  counties,  each  with  its  proper 
governor,  and  all  governed  by  equal  lavvs.^ 

On  Christmas  Day,  800,  Charles  was  crowned  by 
Pope    Leo    III.   at   Rome,   and    proclaimed   Caesar 
Augustus,   the   successor    of  the    old    Emperors    of 
Rome.    Egbert  was  present  at  the  ceremony.    That 
year,  or  very  soon  afterwards,  he  heard  of  his  own 
accession  to  the  throne  of  his  native  country.     King 
Brihtric  was   dead,  poisoned  by  his  wife.     She  had 
mixed  the  draught  for  a  young  man  of  whom  she 
was  jealous,  and  her  husband  drank  it  by  mistake. 
Egbert,  who  was  now  the  only  descendant  of  the  old 
Wessex  kings,  was  chosen  in  his  absence.     He  seems 
to  have  set  himself  to  carry  out  the  plans  which  he 
had  learnt  to  form  in  the  company  of  the  Emperor 
Charles.     He  had  a  long  and  hard  struggle  before 
him.     For  twenty  years  and  more  he  was  engaged  in 
a  conflict  with  Mercia.     In  823  came  his  success,  and, 
if  the  Saxon  Chronicle  is  to  be  believed,  came  all  at 
once.    ''In  this  year  Egbert,  King  of  the  West  Saxons, 
and  Beornwulf,  King  of  the  Mercians,  fought  at  Elian- 
dune   [probably   Wilton,    near    Salisbury].      Egbert 
gained  the  victory.     The  slaughter  was  very  great. 
Then  the  King  sent  his  son  Ethelfulf,  with  Ealstan 
the  Bishop  and  Wulfhard  the  Count,  into  Kent  with 
a  great  army.      These  put  to  flight  Bald  red.  King  of 
Kent,  in  the  northern  part  of  that  region  near  the 
river  Kent.     After  this  the  people  of  Kent  and  of 

»  See  '*  Germany,"  Story  of  the  Nations  (pp.  58-91)-  There  could 
not  then  have  been  a  better  place  than  this  for  Egbert  to  prepare 
himself  for  his  future  work.  In  Charles's  camps  he  learnt  the  art  of 
war,  and  in  him  saw  how  a  great  kingdom  might  be  ruled  wisely  and 
justly. 


KING  EGBERT'S   CONQUESTS. 


183 


Surrey,  and  the  South  Saxons,  and  the  East  Saxons, 
came  over  to  him.     And  these  in  former  times  had 
been  unjustly  wrested  from  his  ancestors.     In  this  same 
year  also  the  King  of  the  East  Angles  and  his  people 
begged  King  Egbert  to  make  peace  with  them  and  to 
be  their  protector.      This  they  did  for  fear  of  the 
Mercians.      In  this  year  also  the  East  Angles  slew 
Beornwulf,  King  of  the  Mercians."     We  may  guess 
that  many  things  had  been  preparing  the  way  for  this 
result,  and  that  the  success  was  not  quite  as  sudden 
as  is  here  described.     Anyhow,  Egbert  was  now  over- 
lord of  Southern  and  Western  England.     Four  years 
later  his  dominion  was  largely  extended.   I  quote  again 
from  the  Saxon  Chronicle  :  "  In  this  same  year  (827) 
King  Egbert  subdued  the  kingdom  of  the  Mercians, 
and  all  the  region  that  is  to  the  south  of  the  Humber. 
...  He  also  led  an  army  to  Dore  [probably  in  York- 
shire] against  the  men  of  Northumbria.     But  they, 
meeting  him  there,  offered  him  submission  and  peace; 
after  that  they  parted  from  each  other."    The  Chroni- 
cler tells  us  that  Egbert  was  *'the  eighth  king  that 
was  Bretwalda."     The  title  itself  had  become  extinct 
for  some  time,  the  last  holder  having  been  Oswin  of 
Northumbria,  who  died  in  670.     It  was  now  revived 
and  given   to  Egbert.      There  is  no  doubt  that  his 
power  was  superior  to  that  exercised  by  any  of  his 
predecessors,  and,  indeed,  was  such  as  to  entitle  him 
to  be  called  "  King  of  England."     We  must  not  sup- 
pose, however,  that  all  England  was  subject  to  him  in 
the  same  way  that  his  own  dominions  of  Wessex  were 
subject.     Probably  the  relations  between  him  and  the 
other  English  princes  were  various.    Kent,  with  which 


184 


WESSEX  AND   EGBERT. 


he  was  connected  by  birth,  and  which  was  ruled  by 
his  son,  may  be  said  to  have  been  as  much  subject  to 
him  as  was  Wessex  itself.  Northern  England  re- 
tained, it  would  seem,  more  independence.  Mercia 
was  not  absolutely  conquered  till  long  afterwards, 
while  Northumbria,  by  its  voluntary  acknowledgment 
of  Egbert's  supremacy,  preserved  its  freedom  practi- 

tically  entire. 

It  was  not  only  over  the  English  that  Egbert  gained 
his  successes.  The  British  kingdoms  also  felt  his 
power.  In  the  year  828  he  led  an  army  against  the 
"  North  Britons,"  />.,  the  inhabitants  of  North  Wales, 
and  made  them  all  humbly  obedient  to  him.  The 
Celtic  kings  of  Cumberland  and  Strathclyde  probably 
followed  the  same  course,  as  did  the  Northumbrians, 
and  escaped  attack  by  a  submission  which  left  them 

still  free. 

Egbert  died  in  836,  but  not  till  he  had  seen  the  first 
beginnings  of  another  great  movement  of  races,  which 
was  to  trouble  for  many  years,  and  in  the  end  to  over- 
throw, the  kingdom  which  he  had  built  up.  Afte^ 
some  four  centuries  of  conflict,  first  against  the  Britons, 
then  among  themselves,  the  English  had  been  wrought 
into  one  power.  And  now  another  stock  of  their  own 
race,  under  the  names  of  Danes,  Northmen,  Normans, 
was  beginning  to  bring  that  power  to  the  ground.  So 
important  a  subject  demands  a  new  chapter. 


XVIII. 

THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  EGBERT,  AND   THE  DANES. 

We  have  seen  that  for  more  than  a  hundred  years 
before  the  end  of  the  Roman  dominion,  the  eastern 
and  southern  shores  of  Britain  were  ravaged  by  fleets 
of  pirates  from  Northern  and  Eastern  Europe.     We 
have  also  seen  that  when  the  Roman  armies  were 
withdrawn,  these  ravages  became  more  serious  and 
more  constant  ;  that,  in  fact,  the  plunderers  became 
conquerors,  and  possessed  themselves  of  the  whole 
island,  the  mountainous  and  remote  districts  of  the 
west   excepted.     When  this  conquest  was  complete, 
the  visits  from  these  dwellers  in  the  North  and  East 
ceased  altogether.     For  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
after  Uffa  landed  on  the  coast  of  Norfolk,  and  founded 
the  kingdom  of  East  Anglia,  the  rovers  either  stopped 
at  home,  or  busied  themselves  with  other  expeditions- 
For  some  time  a  feeling  of  kinship  would  prevent  them 
from  invading  the  new  dwelling-places  of  their  own 
relatives.      Afterwards  the  southward   movement  of 
other  tribes  left  them  room  to  expand.     Indeed,  the 
natives  of  the  old  English,  Jutish,  and  Saxon  r-ions 
from  which  the  conquerors  came  forth,  do  not  seem 
to  have  ever  sent  out   again  any  great   number  of 


l86   THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  EGBERT  AND  THE  DANES. 

adventurers.  The  rovers  of  the  sea,  of  whom  we 
shall  hear  so  much  for  the  next  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  came  from  more  northern  parts,  from  the 
peninsula  and  islands  of  Denmark,  from  the  coasts 
of  Sweden  and  Norway.  The  Irish  Chronicles  speak 
of  them  as  of  two  races,  the  Fingalls  (fair  strangers), 
whom  we  may  identify  with  the  Swedes  and  Norwe- 
gians, and  the  Dubhgalls  (dark  strangers),  in  whom 
we  recognize  the  Danes.  The  latter  seem  to  have 
been,  as  they  have  often  shown  themselves  in  later 
times,  the  stronger  and  the  ruling  race,  and  this  is  the 
name  by  which  they  will  be  known  in  the  story  which 

we  have  now  to  tell. 

In  753  we  hear  of  a  landing  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet ; 
but  there  is  nothing  to  show  who  were  the  invaders. 
The  first  express  mention  of  the  Danes  by  the  Saxon 
Chronicler  is  under  the  year  7S7.     "  In  these  days 
there  came  for  the  first  time  three  ships  of  the  North- 
men to  the  land  of  the   Herethi   [probably  Dorset- 
shire].   The  King's  lieutenant  rode  thither,  and  would 
have  made  them  come  to  the  King's  house,  for  he 
knew  not  who  they  were.      But  there  was  he  slain. 
These  were  the  first  ships  of  the  Danes  that  came 
into  England."     Ten  years  later  we  heaf  of  them  on 
the  east  coast   "  Certain  Pagans  made  ravages  among 
the   Northumbrians,   and   plundered    the    monastery 
which  is  at  the   mouth  of  the  Wear.     One  of  their 
chiefs  was  slain,  and  sundry  of  their  ships  wrecked. 
Many  of  the  men  were  drowned,  and  such  as  reached 
the   harbour  alive  were   straightway   slain."      Little 
mercy  then,  as  afterwards,  was  shown  on  either  side. 
For  some  years  after  this  date  the  Saxon  Chronicle 


THE   PAGANS    WASTE   SCEAPIGE, 


187 


makes  no  mention  of  the  Northmen.     We  learn  from 
other  sources  indeed  that  they  plundered  Hii  (lona) 
in  808,  and  they  were  certainly  seen  elsewhere  along 
the  coasts  of  Europe,  even  as  far  south  as  the  Medi- 
terranean.    It  may  have  been  to  this  time  that  the 
story  told  of  the  Emperor  Charles  ^  refers.     He  was 
visiting  one  of  the  seaport  towns  of  Southern  F^rance 
when    some    fast-sailing,   square-rigged    ships    were 
spied.     No  one  knew  to  what  nation  they  belonged. 
Some   thought  that   they  came  from   Africa,  others 
that  they  belonged  to  British  traders.     A  message 
came  that  the  crews  had  landed,  and  were  plundering 
the  shore.     Immediately  all  seized  their   arms   and 
hastened   to   the   harbour.     The  Northmen,  hearing 
that  the  Emperor  was  in  the  place,  and  not  feeling 
themselves  strong  enough  to  fight  with  him,  hastened 
back  to  their  ships  and  set  sail.     As  Charles  from  his 
window  watched  them   depart,  he   burst  into  tears. 
''  I  do  not  weep,"  he  said,  "  because  I  fear  that  these 
wretches  can  do  me  any  harm.    I  grieve  because  they 
have  dared,  even  while  I  am  yet  alive,  to  show  them- 
selves upon   these  coasts,  and    because  I  dread  the 
evil  which  they  will  do   to   my  descendants."     To- 
wards  the   close   of    his    reign    Egbert    came    into 
collision   with   these   terrible   enemies.      Under   the 
date  832  the  Chronicle  has :  ''  In  this  year  the  Pagans 
wasted    Sceapige    [Sheppey—' Sheep   Island'].     The 
next  year  they  came  in  greater  force.     "  In  this  year 
King  Egbert  fought  with  thirty-five  pirate  ships  at 
Carrum  [Charmouth,  in  Dorsetshire].     The  slaughter 
was  great,  but  the  pirates  held  the  field  of  battle." 

»  Charles  died  in  8 1 2. 


l88  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  EGBERT  AND  THE  DANES. 

This  means,  of  course,  that  the  King  was  defeated. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  so  much  alarmed  by  this 
disaster  that    he  summoned  a  council  of  sub-kings 
and    nobles  I  to    meet    him   in    London   and  devise 
measures  of  defence  against  the  new  enemy.     Such 
measures  were  needed,  for  in  835  the  Danes  returned 
in  greater  force  than  before.     "  In  this  year  a  great 
array   of  ships   came   to   the   Britons   of  the   West 
Country,    and    made     alliance    with    them    against 
Egbert,  King  of  Wessex.     When   the  King   heard 
of  the    matter,  he    marched  with    his   army  against 
them,    and     fought     with     them    at    Hengesterdun 
[Hengston  Hill,  in  Cornwall].     Then  he  put  to  flight 
both  the  Britons  and  the  Danes.    The  King  is  said  to 
have  severely  punished  the  Britons  for  their  share  in 
this  treaty,  banishing  all  of  their  race  from  his  do- 
minions."    In  the  following  year  he  died,  and  was 
succeeded   by  his   son   Ethelwulf,  then   sub-king  of 
Kent.     This  office  Ethelwulf  handed  on  to  his  own 
son,  Athelstan. 

For  some  years  the  history  of  England  is  little  but 
a  history  of  continual  struggle  between  its  people  and 
the  Danish  invaders.  In  837  two  great  battles  were 
fought,  one  at  Southampton,  where  the  rovers,  who 
had  come  with  a  fleet  of  thirty-three  ships,  were 
defeated  ;  another  at  Portland,  where  the  alderman 
Ethelhelm,  with  a  following  of  the  men  of  Dorset- 
shire, after  being  successful  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  day,  was  finally  beaten  and  slain.     The  following 

»  Lappenberg  (ii.  8)  mentions  a  Mercian  charter,  published  at  this 
time,  which  bears  the  signature  of  the  bishops,  but  not  of  the  kings 
whom  they  represented.  These  are  supposed  to  have  been  engaged  at 
the  Council  in  London. 


ALDERMAN  EALCHER. 


189 


years  brought  still  worse  disasters.  "  The  Alderman 
Herebright,  and  many  of  the  men  of  the  Marshes, 
were  slain  by  the  Pagans."  It  is  not  clear  who  are 
meant  by  the  "  men  of  the  Marshes."  Possibly  they 
may  have  been  the  inhabitants  of  the  low-lying 
shore  between  Hythe  and  Hastings.  The  east  coast, 
as  far  north  as  Lincolnshire,  was  attacked  in  the 
same  years.  "  Many  men  in  Lindsey  [North  Lin- 
colnshire], and  East  Anglia  and  Kent  were  slain  by 
their  army."  The  following  year  there  was  "  a  great 
slaughter  in  London,  Canterbury,  and  Rochester;" 
and  in  the  year  after  again,  "  King  Ethelwulf  fought 
at  Carrum  [Charmouth]  with  thirty-five  ships  of  the 
pirates  ;  and  the  Danes  held  the  field  of  battle." 

A  few  years  afterwards  we  find  a  bishop  taking  the 
field  against  the  invaders.  This  was  in  Somersetshire, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Parret,  when  the  Danes  had 
landed,  the  men  of  Dorsetshire  and  Somersetshire 
combining  to  resist  them.  In  851  came  a  more 
formidable  attack  than  ever,  and  afterwards  a  time 
of  rest.  The  Chronicler  thus  relates  the  events.  "  In 
this  year  the  Alderman  Ceorl,  with  the  men  of 
Devonshire,  fought  with  an  army  of  the  pagans  at 
Wensbury  (?j,  and  made  a  great  slaughter  of  them, 
and  won  the  victory.  In  the  same  year  King  Athel- 
Stan  [of  Kent]  and  the  Alderman  Ealcher  fought  a 
battle  at  sea,  and  routed  a  great  fleet  at  Sandwich  in 
Kent,  taking  nine  ships,  and  putting  the  rest  to  flight. 
The  Pagans  also  now  for  the  first  time  abode  in 
winter  quarters  at  Thanet.  And  the  same  year  there 
came  three  hundred  and  fifty  ships  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Thames,  and  went  up,  and  took  by  storm  Canter- 


igo  THE  SUCCESSORS   OF  EGBERT  AND   THE  DANES. 

bury  and  London,  and  put  to  flight  Beortvvulf,  King 
of  the  Mercians,  and  his  army.  Then  they  went 
southwards  across  the  Thames  into  Surrey;  and 
then  King  Ethelwulf  and  his  son  Ethelbald  fought 
against  them  with  an  army  of  the  West  Saxons. 
And  the  King  and  his  men  made  a  greater  slaughter 
of  them  than  had  ever  before  been  made  of  the 
Pagans,  and  gained  the  victory."  The  wintering  of 
the  Danes  in  Thanet  is  a  very  significant  fact.  It  is 
not  expressly  said  when  it  took  place ;  probably  it 
was  in  the  winter  before  the  battles  here  mentioned, 
and  the  huge  army  which  Ethelwulf  defeated  came 
with  the  hope  of  making  a  permanent  settlement  in 

the  country.  . 

It    would    be    tedious   to   relate   all    the    Danish 
incursions  of  which    the  Chronicle    makes    mention. 
In  854  we  find  the  "Pagans"  wintering  in  Sheppey. 
For  years  afterwards  they  land  in  Kent,  where  the 
people   vainly   endeavour   to   purchase   peace.     The 
Danes  take  the  money,  but  the  same  night  secretly 
leave  the  camp  and  plunder  all  the  eastern  part  of 
the   country.      The    year    following    they    make   a 
descent  on  East  Anglia,  where,  says  the  Chronicle, 
"  they  became  horsemen,  and  the  people  made  a  peace 
with  them."     It  was  in  East  Anglia  that  they  gained 
their  strongest  hold  of  the  country.     To  this  day  that 
part  of  England,  in  its  names,  and  in  the  character  of 
its  population,  shows  many  traces  of  their  presence. 
In  868  we  find  them  in  Mercia,  at  Nottingham,  that 
is,  in   the   very  heart   of   England.     King   Ethelred 
besieged  them  there.     There  is  nothing  memorable 
about  the  war,  for  the  Mercians  seem  to  have  soon 


jt^^g^^si^^^t^^ 


THE  LINDSEY  MEN  DEFEAT   THE  DANES.      IQI 

come  to  terms  with  the  invaders,  except  that  a 
notable  person,  Alfred,  the  King's  youngest  brother, 
of  whom  I  shall  have  much  to  say  hereafter,  was 
present  at  the  siege.  The  next  year  the  Pagans  took 
possession  of  York  ;  and  in  the  next  again  (870)  they 
took  up  their  winter  quarters  at  Thetford  in  Norfolk. 
Two  picturesque  stories  now  relieve  the  dreary  record 
of  these  incessant  conflicts. 

The  men  of  Lindsey  encountered  and  defeated, 
with  the  loss  of  three  of  their  kings,  a  Danish  army 
which  had  issued  from  York.  It  was  only  the  dark- 
ness that  saved  them  from  total  destruction.  But 
after  nightfall  the  Danes  were  joined  by  a  numerous 
body  of  their  countrymen.  The  English,  who  were 
under  the  command  of  the  Alderman  Alfgar,  were  so 
terrified  by  the  news  that  out  of  eight  thousand  two 
thousand  only  had  the  courage  to  remain  with  their 
leader.  These"  Alfgar  arrayed  the  next  day  in  order 
of  battle,  commanding  himself  the  centre,  and  placing 
the  Alderman  of  Lincoln  on  the  left  and  Morcar  on 
the  right.  Chiefs  and  soldiers  received  the  com- 
munion, and  awaited  the  attack  of  the  Pagans  in 
close,  wedgelike  array.  All  day  long  the  Danes 
assailed  them  in  vain.  Towards  evening  they  used 
the  stratagem  of  a  feigned  flight.  The  Saxons 
pursued  without  heeding  the  advice  of  their  leaders 
to  be  cautious.  When  they  were  scattered  over  the 
field,  the  Danes  turned  upon  them,  and  destroyed 
them  almost  to  a  man.  From  the  field  of  battle  the 
Danes  proceeded  to  the  Abbey  of  Croyland.  The 
abbot  had  hidden  his  treasures,  and  sent  his  monks 
to  hide  themselves  in  the  marshes.     Only  a  few  old 


THE   STORY  OF   KING   EDMUND. 


193 


men  and  children  were  left  in  the  building.  The  abbot 
was  slain  as  he  was  singing  mass  at  the  high  altar,  and 
all  that  were  with  him  shared  his  fate,  except  one 
lad,  Thurgar  by  name,  on  whom  one  of  the  Danish 
earls  had  pity,  and  who  escaped  a  few  days  after- 
wards. From  Croyland  the  Pagans  went  on  to 
Peterborough.  The  monastery  held  out  for  a  day 
against  them,  and  one  of  their  chiefs  was  wounded 
by  a  stone,  it  is  said,  in  the  attack.  In  revenge  the 
Danes  put  every  one  to  the  sword,  and  burnt  church 
and  monastery  to  the  ground.  Within  a  few  days 
the  Abbey  of  Ely  shared  the  same  fate.  Standing, 
as  it  did,  on  a  hill  surrounded  by  marshes,  it  seemed 
a  safe  place,  and  vast  treasures  had  been  collected 
there  from  all  parts.  Everything  was  plundered  or 
destroyed  by  the  Pagans. 

The  story  of  King  Edmund  is  assigned  to  the  year 
870.  He  was  the  sub-king  of  East  Anglia,  and, 
venturing  to  attack  a  Danish  force  that  issued  from 
Thetford,  was  defeated.  He  fled  from  the  field  of 
battle,  and  hid  himself  under  a  bridge.  But  the 
glitter  of  his  golden  spurs  as  they  shone  in  the 
moonlight  revealed  his  presence  to  a  passer-by,  and 
he  betrayed  the  King  to  the  Danes.  Hingvar,  the 
Danish  chief,  offered  Edmund  his  life  if  he  would 
give  up  the  Christian  faith— so  ran  the  story  which 
his  sword-bearer  used  to  tell  in  after  years  in  the 
Court  of  Athelstane,  and  which  Archbishop  Dunstan 
heard  from  his  lips,  and  handed  down  to  us.  When 
he  refused,  the  Danes  bound  him  to  a  tree,  and  shot 
their  arrows  at  him.  At  last  Hingvar  commanded 
that    he  should  be  beheaded.      His  remains  were 


THE   STORY  OF   KING   EDMUND. 


193 


men  and  children  were  left  in  the  building.  The  abbot 
was  slain  as  he  was  singing  mass  at  the  high  altar,  and 
all  that  were  with  him  shared  his  fate,  except  one 
lad,  Thurgar  by  name,  on  whom  one  of  the  Danish 
earls  had  pity,  and  who  escaped  a  few  days  after- 
wards. From  Croyland  the  Pagans  went  on  to 
Peterborough.  The  monastery  held  out  for  a  day 
against  them,  and  one  of  their  chiefs  was  wounded 
by  a  stone,  it  is  said,  in  the  attack.  In  revenge  the 
Danes  put  every  one  to  the  sword,  and  burnt  church 
and  monastery  to  the  ground.  Within  a  few  days 
the  Abbey  of  Ely  shared  the  same  fate.  Standing, 
as  it  did,  on  a  hill  surrounded  by  marshes,  it  seemed 
a  safe  place,  and  vast  treasures  had  been  collected 
there  from  all  parts.  Everything  was  plundered  or 
destroyed  by  the  Pagans. 

The  story  of  King  Edmund  is  assigned  to  the  year 
870.  He  was  the  sub-king  of  East  Anglia,  and, 
venturing  to  attack  a  Danish  force  that  issued  from 
Thetford,  was  defeated.  He  fled  from  the  field  of 
battle,  and  hid  himself  under  a  bridge.  But  the 
glitter  of  his  golden  spurs  as  they  shone  in  the 
moonlight  revealed  his  presence  to  a  passer-by,  and 
he  betrayed  the  King  to  the  Danes.  Hingvar,  the 
Danish  chief,  offered  Edmund  his  life  if  he  would 
give  up  the  Christian  faith — so  ran  the  story  which 
his  sword-bearer  used  to  tell  in  after  years  in  the 
Court  of  Athelstane,  and  which  Archbishop  Dunstan 
heard  from  his  lips,  and  handed  down  to  us.  When 
he  refused,  the  Danes  bound  him  to  a  tree,  and  shot 
their  arrows  at  him.  At  last  Hingvar  commanded 
that    he  should   be  beheaded.      His   remains  were 


194  THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  EGBERT  AND  THE  DANES. 

privately  buried  by  his  followers,  and  afterwards 
removed  to  a  town  which  afterwards  received  the 
name  of  St.  Edmundsbury,  and  in  which  a  splendid 
monastery  was  erected  in  his  honour  by  the  Danish 

king  Canute. 

East  Anglia  and  Mercia  were  now  helpless ;  but  m 
Wessex  the   invaders  met  with  an  obstinate  resist- 
ance.    Early  in  the  year  they  took  up  a  position  at 
Reading,  which  they  strengthened   with  a  rampart, 
constructed  between  the  Thames  and  the  Kennet.^ 
A  Danish  division,  which  had  gone  as  far  as  Engle- 
field  (near  Staines,  and  as  much  as  twenty  miles  from 
Reading),  was  attacked   by  Ethelwulf,  Alderman  of 
Berkshire,  and  defeated   with  great  loss.     Ethelwulf 
then  joined    his  forces  with  those  of  the  king,  and 
attacked    the  Danes  at   Reading.     The  battle  went 
against  the  English,  and  Ethelwulf  was  slain.     Four 
days  afterwards  there  was  another  fight  at  Ashdune 
(the  Hill  of  the  Ash).^    Both  armies  were  strong,  and 
both  threw  up  earthworks  for  defence.     The  Danes 
were  commanded  by  two  kings,  who  held  the  centre 
of  the  line,  and  a  number  of  earls,  who  were  posted 
on  the  two  wings.     The  English,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  led  by  King  Ethelred  and  his  younger  brother 
Alfred.      Alfred   was  the  first  to  set  his  division  in 
motion  ;  Ethelred,  who  was  busy  hearing  mass  in  his 
tent,  and  who  would  not  stir  till  the  divine  office  was 

«  The  Kennet  flows  through  Reading  town  ;  the  Thames  is  about 
a  mile  distant.  The  ground  between  the  two  rivers  is  level,  and 
the  rampart  was  probably  intended  to  fortify  this  side  of  the  posi- 
tion. Tl     1     U-  A    U 

»  Prcbably  not  tar  from  Lamboume  Downs  in  West  Berkshire.  Ash- 
down  Park  and  Ashbury  preserve  the  name. 


1 


BATTLE  OF  ASHDUNE. 


195 


t 


finished,  was  a  long  time  in  following  him.  Alfred, 
who  was  certainly  not  wanting  in  piety,  refused  to 
wait,  and  attacked  the  Danish  wings.  It  had  been 
arranged  that  the  centre  should  be  left  to  Ethelred. 
For  a  time  the  young  prince  bore  the  whole  brunt  of 
the  battle.  The  crest  of  the  hill  Was  occupied  by  the 
Danes;  the  English  came  up  from,  below  to  close 
with  them.  On  the  slope  was  a  stunted  thorn-tree 
(^"  which  I  myself,"  says  the  Chronicler,  *' have  seen 
with  my  own  eyes  "),  and  it  was  here  that  the  battle 
raged  most  fiercely.  After  a  long  struggle  the 
Danes  gave  way.  One  of  their  kings  fell  on  the  field, 
and  with  him  perished  five  earls  and  many  thousand 
men.  The  survivors  fled  in  confusion  to  "  the  strong- 
hold from  which  they  had  sallied  "  (probably  Read- 
ing), the  English  pursuing  and  slaying  all  they  could 
reach.  "  Fourteen  days  after  the  struggle  was  re- 
newed at  Basing,  in  North  Hampshire."  This  time 
the  Danes  were  victorious.  King^  Ethelred  was 
wounded,  and  died  "after  Easter  "'t  Easter  fell  this 
year  on  April  19th). 

This  narrative  of  the  Danish  war  has  carried  me 
out  of  the  chronological  order  of  events.  A  short 
account  of  the  successors  of  Egbert  will  complete  this 
sketch  of  English  history  down  to  the  time  which  I 

have  now  reached. 

Ethelwulf,  Egbert's  son  and  immediate  successor, 
was  brought  up  by  Swithun,  a  priest  of  Winchester, 
and  was,  perhaps,  better  fitted  for  a  cloister  than  for 
a  throne.  In  his  first  year  (839)  he  formed  the  pur- 
pose of  making  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  though  so 
closely  was  he  occupied  with  the  Danish  wars,  that 


BRITAIN 
827- 82  g 

English  Miles 


IValker  d-  Boutallse. 


MAP   3— A.D.    827. 


ETHELRED  SUCCEEDS  ETHELBERT, 


197 


he  was  unable  to  carry  it  into  effect  till  855.  In  this 
year  "he  went  to  Rome  in  great  state,  and  dwelt 
there  for  the  space  of  twelve  months."  He  gave 
many  costly  gifts  to  the  churches,  the  clergy,  and  the 
people  of  Rome ;  and  rebuilt  the  Saxon  school,  which 
had  been  destroyed  by  fire.  According  to  some 
accounts  the  tax  called  "  Peter's  Pence  '*  began  in  an 
endowment  which  Ethelwulf  gave  for  the  singing  of 
masses  for  his  soul.  0«  his  4vay  home  he  was  hos- 
pitably entertained  V  King  Charles  the  Bald,  whose 
daughter  Judith  he  married.     Judith  was  then  twelve 

years  old. 

Something  in    the    King's  conduct,  possibly   this 
marriage,  and  the  following  elevation  of  Judith  to  the 
rank  of  queen,  a  title  which  no  wife  of  a  West  Saxon 
king  had  held  since  the  days  of  Sexburh,^  seems  to 
have  offended  his  subjects.     Anyhow  we  find  his  son 
Ethelbald  conspiring  with  some  of  the  bishops  and 
nobles  to  prevent  his  return.     The  result  was  a  com- 
promise, and   Ethelwulf  contented  himself  with  the 
eastern  division  of  his  kingdom.    He  died  in  858,  and 
was  succeeded  by   his    second   and  third  sons   (the 
eldest  had  died  some  years  before).     Ethelbald  con- 
tinued  to  reign  in  Wessex,  of  which,  as  has  been  said, 
he  had  made  himself  master  before  his  father's  death  ; 
Ethelbert   took    the    eastern    sub-kingdoms   for   his 
share,  but,  on  his  elder  brother's  death  in  860,  sue- 
ceeded    to   the   whole.      He   died    in    2>66,  and   was 
succeeded  by  his  next  brother,  Ethelred.     Ethelred's 
reign   of  five  years  was,  as  we  have   seen,  wholly 
occupied  with  the  Danish  war.     Both  he  and  Ethel- 

^  See  p.  179. 


BRITAIN 

827 -82() 


Walker  d-  Boutali  se. 


MAP   3— A.D.   827. 


ETHELRED   SUCCEEDS  ETHELBERT. 


197 


he  was  unable  to  carry  it  into  effect  till  855.  In  this 
year  "he  went  to  Rome  in  great  state,  and  dwelt 
there  for  the  space  of  twelve  months."  He  gave 
many  costly  gifts  to  the  churches,  the  clergy,  and  the 
people  of  Rome ;  and  rebuilt  the  Saxon  school,  which 
had  been  destroyed  by  fire.  According  to  some 
accounts  the  tax  called  "  Peter's  Pence  "  began  in  an 
endowment  which  Ethelwulf  gave  for  the  singing  of 
masses  for  his  soul.  0«  his  *^ay  home  he  was  hos- 
pitably entertained  \^  King  Charles  the  Bald,  whose 
daughter  Judith  he  married.     Judith  was  then  twelve 

years  old. 

Something  in   the    King's  conduct,  possibly   this 
marriage,  and  the  following  elevation  of  Judith  to  the 
rank  of  queen,  a  title  which  no  wife  of  a  West  Saxon 
king  had  held  since  the  days  of  Sexburh,^  seems  to 
have  offended  his  subjects.     Anyhow  we  find  his  son 
Ethelbald  conspiring  with  some  of  the  bishops  and 
nobles  to  prevent  his  return.     The  result  was  a  com- 
promise, and   Ethelwulf  contented  himself  with  the 
eastern  division  of  his  kingdom.    He  died  in  858,  and 
was  succeeded  by   his    second    and  third  sons   (the 
eldest  had  died  some  years  before).     Ethelbald  con- 
tinued to  reign  in  Wessex,  of  which,  as  has  been  said, 
he  had  made  himself  master  before  his  father's  death  ; 
Ethelbert   took    the    eastern    sub-kingdoms   for   his 
share,  but,  on  his  elder  brother's  death  in  860,  sue- 
ceeded   to   the   whole.     He   died    in    866^  and   was 
succeeded  by  his  next  brother,  Ethelred.     Ethelred's 
reign   of  five   years  was,  as   we  have   seen,  wholly 
occupied  with  the  Danish  war.     Both  he  and  Ethel- 

^  See  p.  179. 


198   THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  EGBERT  AND  THE  DANES. 

bert  left  children,  but  it  was  not  a  time  when  children 
could  reign.  A  king  was  wanted  who  could  lead  his 
armies  in  person,  and  Alfred,  the  youngest  of  the  sons 
of  Ethelwulf,  was  called  to  the  throne. 


/ 


^ 


XIX. 

ALFRED,   THE  MAN  OF  WAR. 

It  is  a  happy  circumstance  that  when  we  come  to 
the  greatest  of  England's  early  kings,  perhaps  we  may 
say,  the  greatest  of  all  kings  that  she  has  ever  had, 
we  find,  for  the  first  time,  the  story  of  his  life  told  by 
one  who  knew  him  well.  Asser,  a  Welshman  by 
birth,  and  brought  up  in  what  we  may  call  the 
Cathedral  School  of  St.  David's,  has  left  a  book 
entitled,  "  Annals  of  the  Deeds  of  Alfred  the  Great." 
It  abounds  with  little  personal  touches.  The  writer 
tells  of  Alfred's  prowess  as  a  hunter,  and  tells  us  that 
he  has  often  seen  proofs  of  it  himself.  He  describes 
the  battle  of  Ashdown,  and  speaks  of  the  "  stunted 
thorn  tree,"  round  which  the  battle  raged  most 
fiercely,  as  seen  with  his  own  eyes.  In  short,  he  lived 
with  the  great  king  as  with  a  friend,  and  draws  him, 
so  to  speak,  from  the  life.^ 

Alfred  was  born  in  849  at  Wantage,  in  Berkshire, 
the  youngest  of  the  five  sons  of  King  Ethulwulf  and 
Osburga,  daughter   of   Oslac,  the   royal    cupbearer. 

'  I  must  not  conceal  from  my  readers  that  the  genuineness  of  Asser's 
"  Life  of  Alfred  "  has  been  doubted.  But  the  great  weight  of  com- 
petent opinion  is  in  favour  of  receiving  it. 


200 


ALFRED y   THE  MAN  OF  WAR. 


Oslac  was  of  Jutish  race,  and  traced  his  descent 
from  Stuf,  one  of  the  two  brothers  to  whom  Cerdic 
gave  the  Isle  of  Wight.  The  King  seems  to  have 
had  a  special  affection  for  his  youngest  son.  He  sent 
him  in  his  fifth  year,  with  a  great  train  of  nobles,  to 
Rome,  where  Pope  Leo  IV.  is  said  to  have  anointed 
him  king,  a  strange  thing  if,  indeed,  it  be  true,^  as  the 
boy  had  then  three,  if  not  four,  brothers  older  than  him- 
self. Another  visit  to  Rome,  this  time  in  company  with 
his  father,  is  recorded  by  Asser  under  the  year  855. 

"  As  he  grew  through  infancy  and  boyhood,"  says 
the  Chronicler,  "  he  was  seen  to  be  more  comely  of 
form  than  his  brothers,  more  gracious  in  look  and 
speech  and  manner  of  life.  From  his  cradle  there 
was  implanted  in  him  by  the  nobility  of  his  disposi- 
tion a  love  of  wisdom  above  all  other  things.  Never- 
theless, shameful  to  relate,  by  the  unworthy  neglect 
of  his  parents  and  tutors,  he  remained  wholly  un- 
taught till  the  twelfth  year  of  his  age,  and  even 
beyond.  Nevertheless,  listening  with  thoughtful 
attention  night  and  day  to  Saxon  poems  as  they  were 
recited  by  others,  he  teachably  kept  them  in  remem- 
brance. In  hunting  of  every  kind  he  practised 
assiduously  and  with  success  ;  no  one  could  compare 
with  him  for  skill  and  good  fortune  in  this  matter, 
as  we  have  ourselves  often  witnessed.  Now  on  a 
certain   day   his   mother  2  showed   to   him   and   his 

*  Asser  could  hardly  have  had  personal  knowledge  of  it. 

»  If  the  story  is  true,  this  must  have  been  his  stepmother  Judith. 
His  own  mother  is  said  to  have  died  when  he  was  seven  years  old. 
Judith  was  married  to  Ethelwnlf  in  the  year  856,  and  when  she  came 
to  England  Alfred  was  in  his  thirteenth  year. 


ALFRED  AS  A  SCHOLAR. 


201 


brothers  a  certain  book  of  Saxon  poetry  which  she 
had  in  her  hand,  and  said,  *  Whoever  of  you  shall 
most  quickly  learn  this  book  shall  have  it,  to  him 
will  I  give  it'  Fired  by  these  words,  and  verily  by 
a  divine  inspiration,  and  greatly  charmed  also  by  the 
beauty  of  the  first  letter  of  this  book,  he  made  answer 
to  his  mother,  *  Wilt  thou  verily  give  this  book  to 
one  of  us,  even  to  him  who  shall  most  speedily  be 
able  to  understand  it,  and  to  repeat  it  before  thee?' 
Thereupon  she  laughed  in  much  joy,  and  said,  *  Verily 
I  will  give  it  to  him.'  Thereupon  he  took  it  out  of 
her  hand,  and  going  to  his  teacher  read  it,  and  having 
read  it,  brought  it  back  to  his  mother  and  recited  it. 
After  this  he  learned  the  daily  course,  that  is,  the 
Hours  ;  and  after  these  certain  Psalms  and  many 
prayers,  which,  collected  in  one  volume,  he  kept  day 
and  night  in  his  bosom,  as  I  have  myself  seen,  carry- 
ing it  about  with  him  incessantly  to  assist  him  in  his 
prayers,  amidst  all  the  business  of  his  life.  .  .  .  This 
he  would  declare,  with  many  deep  sighs,  to  have  been 
one  of  the  greatest  hindrances  of  his  life,  that  when 
he  was  of  the  age  to  learn,  and  had  leisure  and 
capacity,  he  could  not  find  teachers ;  out  when  he 
was  more  advanced  in  years,  he  suffered  from  diseases 
unknown  to  all  physicians  of  the  island,  and  was 
harassed  by  the  cares  of  sovereignty  within  and  with- 
out, and  was  distracted  by  incessant  attacks  of  the 
heathen  so  that  he  could  not  read." 

We  shall  see  that,  in  spite  of  these  hindrances, 
Alfred  contrived  to  do  much  good  work  in  the  way 
of  reading  and  writing.  The  chief  of  the  ailments 
from  which  he  suffered  s.eems  to  have  been  epilepsy. 


202 


ALFRED,   THE  MAN   OE   WAR. 


In  his  twentieth  year  he  married  Ealswith,  daughter 
of  Ethelred,  Alderman  of  Lincolnshire,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  wedding  festivities,  was  struck  down  by 
an  attack  of  this  disease.  The  fits  recurred  frequently 
during  the  remainder  of  life,  and,  as  he  died  in  the 
prime  of  his  manhood  (his  fifty-first  year),  probably 

shortened  it. 

The  story  of  Alfred  up  to  the  time  of  his  accession 
to  the  throne  has  already  been  told.     Ethelred,  we 
have  seen,  died  about  the  end  of  April  in  the  year 
871.     Within  a  month  the  new  king  was  called  to 
renew  his  struggle  with  the  invaders.     "  He  fought," 
says  Asser,  "  against  the  whole  army  of  the  Pagans 
at  a  certain  hill  called  Wilton  that  is  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  river  Willy,  from  which  river  the  whole 
county  ^  is  named,  having  but  few  men  with  him." 
After  a  fierce  fight,  in  which  Alfred  had  at  first  the 
upper  hand,  the  Danes  remained  masters  of  the  field 
of  battle.     Both   sides  were  now  exhausted.     Eight 
battles,   and   skirmishes   without   number,  had  been 
fought'  in  a  single  year,  with  a  loss  of  men  which  it 
was"*  impossible  to  estimate.     Peace  was  made,  and 
for  a  time  Wessex  was  free  from  Danish  attacks. 

The  supremacy  attained  by  Egbert  had  for  the 
time  ceased  to  exist ;  and  the  treaty  made  by  Alfred 
with  the  invaders  did  nothing  for  the  rest  of  England. 
Mercia  and  Northumbria  had  to  deal  on  their  own 
account  with  the  Danes,  and  sometimes  resisted, 
sometimes  made  terms  with  them.  East  Anglia  was 
wholly  in  their  power.  In  874  Buhred,  King  of 
Mercia,  driven  to  despair  by  what  he  saw  about  him, 

»  Wiltshire. 


fHE   NORTHMEN  CONQUER   NORTHUMBRIA,     203 

fled  from  England,  and  sought  refuge  in  Rome,  where 
he  died  soon  after  his  arrival.  The  Danes  became 
undisputed  masters  of  Mercia,  where  they  appointed 
as  sub-king  a  certain  "foolish  lord"  of  Buhred, 
foolish,  doubtless,  because  he  was  willing  to  accept 
so  thankless  an  office.  He  was  to  answer  for  the 
tribute,  and  peaceably  to  surrender  up  his  power 
whenever  they  should  demand  it. 

In  the  following  year  Northumbria  was  conquered, 
and  even  the  country  north  of  the  Tyne  was  ravaged. 
An  independent  squadron  of  six  pirate  ships  found  its 
way  the  same  year  to  the  south  coast.   King  Alfred  en- 
countered them,  captured  one,  and  put  the  rest  to  flight. 
In    876  this  was  followed   by  a  more  formidable 
attack  by  the  main  body  of  the  Danes  in  England. 
The  three  kings,  Guthrum,  Oskylet,  and  Amund,  who 
had    wintered   at  Cambridge,  took  ship,  and  sailing 
westward,  seized  the   town  of  Wareham   in   Dorset- 
shire.    Alfred   made  a  treaty  with  them,  paying  at 
the  same  time,  according  to  one  account,  a  sum  of 
money,  and  they  vowed  in  the  most  solemn  manner 
that  they  would   leave  his  kingdom.     This  promise 
was  at  once  broken,  for  some  of  their  horsemen  made 
their  way  into  Devonshire,  and  surprised  the  strong- 
hold of  Exeter. 

After  this  things  grew  worse  and  worse.  Streams 
of  Northmen  poured  into  the  only  part  of  the  island 
that  still  held  out  against  them.  Alfred  constructed 
a  fleet,  but,  in  default  of  English  seamen,  was  obliged 
to  man  it  with  "pirates."  With  his  army  he 
besieged  Exeter.  A  Danish  fleet  of  a  hundred  and 
twenty  ships,  after  being  detained  at  sea  by  rough 


204 


ALFREDy    THE   MAN  OF    WAR. 


weather  for  a  whole  month,  was  seen  off  Swanwick. 
The  King's  ships  encountered,  attacked,  and,  unless 
the  Chronicles  exaggerate,  entirely  destroyed  the  in- 
vaders.    The  Danish  leaders  in  Exeter  now  agreed 
to  give  up  that  place.     But  they  only  changed  the 
scene  of  their  ravages,  seizing  the  "  royal  town  "  of 
Chippenham  in  Wiltshire.     At  the  same  time  another 
Danish  fleet  was  ravaging  the  north  coast  of  Devon- 
shire (Kenwith  near  Bideford).     Here  they  met  with 
a  fierce  resistance.  "The  Pagans,"  says  Asser,  "seeing 
that  the  fort  was  altogether  unprepared,  except  that 
it  had  walls  after  our  fashion,  but  that  it  was  im- 
pregnable and  safe  on  all  sides  save  the  eastern  (as  I 
have  myself  seen),  determined  to  blockade  it.     For 
they  thought  that  the  men    therein  would    speedily 
surrender  under  constraint  of  hunger  and  thirst,  there 
being  no  water.     But  things  did  not  so  turn  out ;  for 
the   Christians,   before   they   were   reduced   to   such 
straits,  by  divine  inspiration,  judging  it  better  either 
to  conquer  or  to  die,  at  dawn  made  a  sudden  sally  on 
the  Pagans,  and  slew  many  of  the  enemy,  together 
with  their  king,  a  few  only  escaping  to  their  ships. 
They  took  also  no  little  spoil,  in  the  which  was  the 
standard  which  they  call  the  Raven.     This  standard 
the  three  sisters  of  Heinga  and  Habba  wove,  finish- 
ing it  in  one  single  noontide.     They  say  also  that 
every  battle,  whensoever  this  standard  went  before 
the  host,  if  they  were  to  win  the  day,  then  would  be 
seen  in  the  midst  of  it  as  it  were  a  live  raven  flying ; 
but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  they  were  to  be  conquered, 
it  would  hang  straight  down  and  wave  not  at  all. 
And  this  was  often  proved  to  be  true," 


THE   STORY  OF   THE   CAKES. 


205 


With  Alfred  himself  things  were  going  very  badly. 
His  kingdom  had,  for  the  time,  passed  from  him. 
He  was  not,  as  is  sometimes  represented,  a  lonely 
fugitive  ;  some  following  he  always  had.  Ethelnoth, 
Alderman  of  Somersetshire,  and  a  few  nobles  are 
said  to  have  been  with  him.  **  With  these,"  says 
Asser,  "  he  led  a  troubled  life  in  the  woodland  parts 
of  Somersetshire,  not  having  any  means  of  living 
except  such  as  he  could  take  by  frequent  forages 
from  the  Pagans  and  from  such  of  the  Christians  as 
had  submitted  themselves  to  them." 

Here  comes  in  the  famous  story  of  the  cakes,  which, 
told  as  it  has  been  already  a  thousand  times,  must  be 
told  once  more.  "  It  fell  out  on  a  certain  day  that 
a  countrywoman,  the  wife  of  a  certain  herdsman  with 
whom  the  King  sojourned,  was  baking  cakes  at  the 
fire.  And  the  King  sitting  by  the  hearth  made  ready 
his  bow  and  arrows  and  other  implements  of  warfare. 
But  when  the  woman  saw  that  the  cakes  set  by  the 
fire  were  burning,  she  ran  in  haste  and  took  them 
away,  reproaching  the  valiant  king,  and  saying,  '  Why 
dost  thou  tarry  to  turn  the  cakes  which  thou  seest 
burning,  seeing  how  glad  thou  art  to  eat  them  when 
they  are  baked  ? '  "  ^ 

At  Athelney  (the  "Island  of  Princes"),  a  place 
between  Taunton  and  Somersetshire,  where  a  marsh 
had  been  formed  by  the  confluence  of  the  Parret  and 
the  Thone,  Alfred  constructed  a  fort.^     This  served 

^  Translated  by  Dr.  Giles  into  modern  Somersetshire  : 
"  Ca'sn  thee  mind  the  keaks,  man,  and  doossen  zee  'em  burn  ? 
I'm  boun  thee's  eat  them  vast  enough,  az  zoon  az  tiz  the  turn." 
*  An  interesting  memorial  of  his  presence  at  this  place  is  to  be  seen 


2o6 


ALFRED,   THE  MAN  OP  WAR, 


as  a  base  of  his  operations.     His  subjects,  inspirited 
by   his   dauntless   courage,   began    to   gather   round 
him,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  felt  himself  able 
to  attack  the  invaders.^     It  was  after  he  had  been 
making  preparations  for  seven  months  at  Athelney 
that  he  met  the  men  of  Hampshire,  Wiltshire,  and 
Somersetshire   on    the   eastern    border   of    SeUvood 
Forest.     "  When  they  saw  the  King,  they  welcomed 
him,  as  was  fitting,  with  great  joy  as  one  that  was 
alive  again  after  many  and  great  troubles.     Two  days 
afterwards  they  attacked  the  Danish  army  at  Ethan- 
dun,  probably    Eddington    near    Westbury,  in  Wilt- 
shire.    There  they  fought  "bravely  and  steadfastly 
against  all  the  army  of  the   Pagans."      The  battle 
was  long  and  obstinate,  but  in  the  end  the    Danes 
gave  way,  and  Alfred  pursued  them  to  their  camp. 
Fourteen  days  afterwards,  the  besieged,  worn  out  by 
hunger,  fdr   they  probably  had    made  no   provision 
against  a  siege,  sent  envoys  to  beg  for  a  truce.     They 
offered   to  give  as  many  hostages    as  Alfred  might 
require,  to  ask  none  in  return,  and  to  leave  the  king- 
dom   as    speedily   as   possible.      These    terms    were 
accepted.     King  Guthrum,  with  thirty  of  his  chiefs, 
was  baptized,  Alfred  himself  standing  as  his  sponsor, 
and  giving  him  the  second  name  of  Athelstan.     This 
took  place  in  the  early  summer  of  878.     Guthrum 

in  a  bracelet  of  gold,  found  at  Athelney,  and  now  preserved  in  the 
Ashmolean  Museu-n  at  O  .ford.  It  bears  the  inscription  jElfred  het 
mek  geivircan,  "Alfred  commanded  me  to  be  made." 

*  The  romantic  story  of  how  the  King  disguised  himself  as  a  harper, 
made  his  way  into  the  Danish  camp,  and  learnt  the  numbers  and 
plans  of  the  enemy,  is  not  found  in  Asser.  It  may  be  true,  but  it 
does  not  rest  on  good  authority. 


PIRATES  BEATEN  AT   SEA. 


207 


went  to  Cirencester,  and  the  next  year  retired  to 
East  Anglia.  There  he  remained  till  the  end  of  his 
life,  in  890,  faithful  to  his  compact. 

Alfred   had  saved  his   kingdom,  and   had   hence- 
forward some  leisure  for  the  duties  of  a  wise  and  far- 
seeing  ruler,  but  a  half,  and  that  the  greater  half  of 
England,  was  lost  to  the  English.     Wessex  and  the 
sub-kingdom   of  Kent   still  belonged   to  the    King. 
English  Mercia,  reaching  as  far  as  the  Ribble  on  the 
north,  acknowleged  his  supremacy.    Wales  and  Corn- 
wall probably  paid  him  some  show  of  homage.     But 
much    of    Central    and    all    Eastern    England   was 
practically  a  foreign,  and  almost  a  hostile,  country. 
It  was  thenceforward  the  Dane-country,  the  Dane- 
law.   Any  allegiance  that  it  paid  to  the  English  king 
was  paid  for  the  time  only,  and  under  the  constraint 
of  superior  strength.     Sometimes  it  became  actively 
hostile.     And  when  the   Danes  set  about  a  regular 
conquest  of  England,  as  they  may  be  said  to  have 
done  about  a  hundred  years  after  Alfred's  death,  they 
found  at  least  half  their  work  done  ready  to  their 

hand. 

But  for  the  time  there  was  relief.  Independent 
freebooters  still  roamed  the  sea.  We  hear,  for  instance^ 
under  the  year  882,  how  King  Alfred  went  out  to  sea 
with  his  fleet,  and  fought  with  four  pirate  ships  of  the 
Danes,  and  how  he  took  two  of  them,  when  their 
crews  had  been  slain,  and  how  the  two  remaining 
surrendered  themselves,  but  not  till  the  men  therein 
had  been  grievously  wounded.  But  the  activity  of 
the  Northmen  was  mainly  displayed  elsewhere.  In  880 
they  besieged  Ghent ;  in  the  following  year  one  body  of 


a- J.  y  i-'-aiyfJii'-afc.l'.iiJ.MgjAj&l 


208 


ALFRED,   THE   MAN  OF   WAR, 


BATTLE   OF   EARN  HAM, 


209 


them  penetrated  into  France,  and  another  landed  on 
the  east  coast  of  Scotland.  In  883  a  Danish  fleet 
sailed  up  the  Scheldt.  It  was  in  this  year  that  Alfred 
felt  himself  so  far  delivered  from  his  troubles  that  he 
could  pay  the  vows  which  he  had  made  in  the  hour  of 
danger.  "  Sighelm  and  Athelstan  carried  to  Rome  the 
alms  which  King  Alfred  had  vowed  ;  and  the  King 
sent  also  to  India  to  the  shrines  of  St.  Thomas  and 
St.  Bartholomew." 

In  885  there  were  troubles  in  Kent  and  East 
Anglia.  Rochester  was  besieged  by  the  Pagans,  but 
held  out  till  it  was  relieved  by  the  King.  This  done, 
he  sent  his  fleet  into  East  Anglia.  Coming  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Stour  (the  river  which  divides  Essex 
and  Suff*olk;  "there  met  it  sixteen  ships  of  the  Pagans. 
With  them  the  English  fought,  and  took  all  the  ships, 
and  slew  the  men.  But  while  they  were  returning 
home  with  much  booty  they  fell  in  with  a  great 
armament  of  the  Pagans.  With  this  they  fought  that 
same  day,  but  the  Danes  won  the  victory."  In  the 
following  year  the  king  "  rebuilt  London,  and  the 
whole  nation  of  the  English  turned  to  him  save  such 
as  were  under  the  power  of  the  Danes."  This  pro- 
bably indicates  what  may  be  called  the  high-water 
mark  of  Alfred's  power.  For  seven  years  the  land 
had  peace.  All  that  the  Chronicler  has  to  say  about 
the  Danes  is  to  tell  us  of  their  doings  abroad.  Even 
the  death   of  Guthrum  in   890  did  not   cause  any 

trouble. 

In  893  the  struggle  began  again.  A  Danish  army 
crossed  over  from  Boulogne  to  Lymme  with  two 
hundred  and  fifty  ships.     Another,  with  eighty  ships, 


?        t 


under  a  famous  leader  of  the  name  of  Hasting,^  sailed 
up  the  Thames,  and  fortified  a  position  at  Milton  (on 
the  Medway)  and  Appledore  (about  six  miles  south- 
east of   Tenterden,  in  Kent).      The  East   Anglians, 
though  professing  to  be  faithful  to  Alfred,  really  assisted 
the  invaders.     The  King's  tactics  seem  to  have  been 
most  skilful.     He  pitched  his  camp  in  a  place  pro- 
tected by  woods  and  amply  supplied  with  water,  and 
dividing   the   two   Danish   armies   from   each  other. 
From  this   position   he  watched   the  movements   of 
both.     One  half  of  his   forces   always   guarded   the 
camp  ;  the  other  kept  the  field.  The  Danes  attempted 
to  carry  the  plunder  which  they  had  collected  north- 
ward across  the  Thames  into  the  Dane-law.     Alfred 
came  up  with  them  at  Farnham,^  and  defeated  them. 
They  fled  across  the  river  without  trying  to  reach  a  ford, 
and  thence  to  an  island  in  the  marshes  of  the  Colne. 
There  Alfred   besieged  them,  though  to  carry  on  a 
siege  was  difficult  when  there  was  no  regular  com- 
missariat, and  the  army  was  on  short  service.     On  the 
other  hand,  the  Danes  could  not  leave  the  place,  their 
king  having  been  so  severely  wounded  that  he  could 

^  Hasting  had  been  a  fellow-leader  with  Guthrum  in  the  war  that 
had  been  concluded  by  the  Peace  of  Wedmore.  He  had  then  retired 
to  France.  But  his  position  there  had  become  unsafe.  Accor- 
dingly we  find  him  again  in  England.  Two  great  causes  were  putting 
an  end  to  the  tranquillity  which  our  island  had  enjoyed  for  some  tune. 
The  Northmen  had  to  yield  to  the  superior  force  brought  against  them 
upon  the  Continent,  while  at  home  the  growing  power  of  the  kings 
caused  the  chiefs  who  were  unwilling  to  submit  to  a  master  to  migrate, 
in  search  of  a  free  home  elsewhere. 

"^  So  the  Chronicler  says.  But  the  Farnham  in  Surrey  seems  too 
much  to  the  south.  Perhaps  it  was,  however,  Farnborough,  near 
Bromley,  in  Kent.  The  narrative  shows  that  they  were  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Tham«s. 


I 


tMBilliiirAftiiia 


I 


I 


210 


ALFRED,   THE  MAN  OF   WAR. 


not  be  moved  Before  long,  Alfred  was  called  else- 
where. The  Northumbrian  and  East  Anglian  Danes 
had  manned  a  fleet  of  a  hundred  ships,  and  sailing 
southward  and  westward,  had  besieged  a  fortress,  the 
name  of  which  is  not  given,  on  the  Devonshire  coast, 
and  the  inland  town  of  Exeter.  The  King  marched 
with  the  main  body  of  his  army  to  Exeter,  while  he 


jj^ 


';.'3 


ANGLO-SAXON  JEWELS. 

sent  a  strong  force  to  London  under  the  command  of 
his  son  Edward  ;  Hasting  had  built  a  fort  at  Benflcet 
(north  of  Canvey  Island  in  the  estuary  of  the 
Thames).  When  the  English  army  arrived  he  was 
absent  on  a  plundering  expedition.  The  Danes  were 
defeated,  and  the  fort  taken,  with  a  great  amount  of 
plunder,  and    many   Danish   women    and    children. 


THE  DANES  CHASED   THROUGH  ENGLAND.      m 

Among  these  were  the  wife  and  two  sons  of  Hastmg 
himself.     The  boys  had  been  baptized,  Alfred  himself 
having  stood  sponsor  for  one  and  one  of  his  nobles  for 
the  other.     Alfred  with  characteristic  generosity  sent 
them  back,  and  handsome  presents  with  them,  to  the 
Danish  king.     Meanwhile   he   reached  and  relieved 
Exeter.     In  the  same  year  a  Danish  army,  reinforced 
by  some  of  their  countrymen  from  East  Anglia  and 
Northumbria,  made   its   way   up   the   valley   of  the 
Thames,  and  thence  into  that  of  the  Upper  Severn. 
It  was  besieged  at  Bultington  in  Montgomeryshire  by 
the   Thanes  of  Western   England,  the  King  himself 
being  employed   with  his  operations  in   Devonshire. 
After  holding  out  for   several  weeks,   during  which 
they  had  been  driven  to  eat  their  horses,  the  Danes 
broke  out  of  their  entrenchments,  and  attempted  to 
cut    their  way  through   the   English   army.      They 
suffered  a  heavy  loss  in  killed  and  prisoners,  but  some 
escaped  to  their   old  quarters  in  East  Anglia.     But 
they  did  not  rest  in  them.     Probably  the  country  was 
too  exhausted  to  yield  them  support.     Their  next 
movement  was  to  Werral  in  Cheshire.   They  marched 
on  that  place  with  all  speed,  outstripping  the  pur- 
suit of  Alfred's  forces,  and  finding  the  fort  empty, 
occupied  it.     The  English  laid  waste  all  the  country 
in  the   neighbourhood,  and  cut   off   such  stragglers 
as  showed  themselves  outside  the  walls.     The  Danes 
abandoned  the  place,  and  made  their  way  into  North 
Wales,  and  from  thence  back  again  into  Northumbria 
and  East  Anglia.     About  the  same  time  those  who 
had  been  fighting  in  Devonshire  also  retreated  east- 
ward, but  were  not  permitted  to  escape  without  loss. 


\ 


210 


ALFREDy   THE  MAN  OF   WAR. 


not  be  moved  Before  long,  Alfred  was  called  else- 
where. The  Northumbrian  and  East  Anglian  Danes 
had  manned  a  fleet  of  a  hundred  ships,  and  sailing 
southward  and  westward,  had  besieged  a  fortress,  the 
name  of  which  is  not  given,  on  the  Devonshire  coast, 
and  the  inland  town  of  Exeter.  The  King  marched 
with  the  main  body  of  his  army  to  Exeter,  while  he 


JJ-! 


ANGLO-SAXON  JEWELS. 

sent  a  strong  force  to  London  under  the  command  of 
his  son  Edward  ;  Hasting  had  built  a  fort  at  Benfleet 
(north  of  Canvey  Island  in  the  estuary  of  the 
Thames).  When  the  English  army  arrived  he  was 
absent  on  a  plundering  expedition.  The  Danes  were 
defeated,  and  the  fort  taken,  with  a  great  amount  of 
plunder,  and    many    Danish   women    and    children. 


1 


THE  DANES   CHASED   THROUGH  ENGLAND.       ^11 

Among  these  were  the  wife  and  two  sons  of  Hasting 
himself.     The  boys  had  been  baptized,  Alfred  himself 
having  stood  sponsor  for  one  and  one  of  his  nobles  for 
the  other.     Alfred  with  characteristic  generosity  sent 
them  back,  and  handsome  presents  with  them,  to  the 
Danish  king.     Meanwhile   he   reached  and  relieved 
Exeter.     In  the  same  year  a  Danish  army,  reinforced 
by  some  of  their  countrymen  from  East  Anglia  and 
Northumbria,  made   its   way   up   the   valley   of  the 
Thames,  and  thence  into  that  of  the  Upper  Severn. 
It  was  besieged  at  Bultington  in  Montgomeryshire  by 
the   Thanes  of  Western  England,  the  King  himself 
being  employed   with  his  operations  in   Devonshire. 
After  holding  out  for   several  weeks,   during  which 
they  had  been  driven  to  eat  their  horses,  the  Danes 
broke  out  of  their  entrenchments,  and  attempted  to 
cut    their   way  through   the   English   army.      They 
suffered  a  heavy  loss  in  killed  and  prisoners,  but  some 
escaped  to  their  old  quarters  in  East  Anglia.     But 
they  did  not  rest  in  them.     Probably  the  country  was 
too  exhausted  to  yield  them  support.     Their  next 
movement  was  to  Werral  in  Cheshire.   They  marched 
on  that  place  with  all  speed,  outstripping  the  pur- 
suit of  Alfred's  forces,  and  finding  the  fort  empty, 
occupied  it.     The  English  laid  waste  all  the  country 
in  the   neighbourhood,  and  cut   off   such  stragglers 
as  showed  themselves  outside  the  walls.     The  Danes 
abandoned  the  place,  and  made  their  way  into  North 
Wales,  and  from  thence  back  again  into  Northumbria 
and  East  Anglia.     About  the  same  time  those  who 
had  been  fighting  in  Devonshire  also  retreated  east- 
ward, but  were  not  permitted  to  escape  without  loss. 


liJI-TllhffMlwftg.OTnBmil.rif'flllh'l-mt'-t     V^M- 


li.'fegaiaKSia&rf^ 


212 


ALFRED,   THE  MAN  OF  WAR. 


In  896  the  struggle  ceased  for  a  time.     The  year 
indeed  began  with  a  disaster.     The  Danes  had  built 
a  fort  on  the   river  Lee,  about   twenty   miles   from 
London.     In  the  course  of  the  summer  the  Londoners 
attempted  to  storm  this  place,  but  were  repulsed  with 
heavy  loss,  four  Thanes  falling  in  the  assault.     Some- 
what later  Alfred  himself  took  the  command.     His 
keen  eye  discovered  a  spot  where  the  river  might  be 
so  blocked  that  the  retreat  of  the  Danish  ships  would 
be  cut  off.     He  set  about  the  work   at   once.     The 
Danes  perceived  their  danger,  and  abandoning  their 
fleet  marched  westward  to  Quatbridge  (near  Bridge- 
north  in  Shropshire).     This  was  practically  the  end 
of  the  war.     The  next  summer,  such  of  the  invaders 
as    had   homes    in   Northumbria   and    East    Anglia, 
returned  to  them  ;  the  rest  took  ship  and  sailed  to 
France  and  up  the  Seine.     "  The  Pagan  army,"  says 
the   Chronicler,  "  thanks   be   to   God  !    had   not  yet 
broken  the  race  of  Englishmen  ;  this  verily  was  much 
more  broken  during  these  three  years  by  the  plague 
among  cattle,  and  most  of  all  by  the  plague  among 
men  ;  for  of  the  noblest  of  the  King's  Thanes  there 
died  many  in  the  said  years."     And  he  goes  on  to  give 
a  list  of  bishops  and  nobles  that  had  so  passed  away. 
One  more  story  is  told  of  Alfred's  valorous  deeds 
against  the  heathen,  and  then  his  wars  are  at  an  end. 
**  There  came  men  from  East  Anglia  and  Northum- 
bria ravaging  the  land  of  the  West   Saxons.     And 
Alfred  the  King  commanded  that  they  should  make 
long  ships  to  contend  with  their  vessels.     Twice  as 
long  were  they,  and  some  had  sixty  oars,  and  some 
yet  more.     Swifter  were  they,  and  steadier,  and  more 


SEA   FIGHT. 


213 


lofty  also.     They  were  made  neither  after  the  fashion 
of  the  Frisian  ships,  nor  after  that  of  the  Danes  ;  but 
as  the  King  judged  they  would  be  most  useful.     In 
that  same  year  there  came  six  ships,  and  did  no  small 
damage  to  the  men  of  Devonshire,  and  to  the  other 
coasts.    So  the  King  commanded  that  they  should  go 
forth  with  nine  of  the  new  ships  and  keep  them  from 
going  forth  of  the  harbour.     Then  the  pirates  went 
out  with  three  ships  against  them,  but  three  were  left 
on  the  dry  land,  for  from  these  the  sailors  had  gone 
forth  to  plunder.     The  King's  ships  took  two  of  the 
three  that  came  forth,  slaying  all  the  men,  and  in  the 
third  they  left  but  five  alive.     But  when  three  of  the 
King's  ships  had  run  on  the  ground,  and  their  fellows 
could  not  come  to  them,  the  Danes  that  were  left 
in  the  three  ships  aforesaid  came  and  fought  against 
them.     Then  many  were  slain,  that  is  to  say,  of  the 
Frisians  and  Englishmen  sixty-two,  and  of  the  Danes 
one  hundred  and  twenty.     But  because  the  tide  came 
to  the  Danish  ships  before  the  English  could  launch 
theirs  on  the  deep  the  Danes  were  able  to  escape. 
Nevertheless  their  ships  were  so  sore  wounded  that 
they  were  cast  ashore.    And  the  men  were  taken  to  the 
King  at  Winchester,  who  commanded  that  they  should 

be  hanged." 

We  need  not  suppose  that  Alfred  was  less  generous 
to  enemies  than  he  had  been  in  past  days.  But  the 
Danes  had  become  a  settled  power,  who,  in  some 
sense,  shared  the  island  with  him.  These  lawless 
rovers,  plundering  on  their  own  account,  could  no 
longer  be  endured,  and  must  be  treated  as  enemies  of 
the  human  race. 


214 


ALFRED,    THE   MAN   OF   WAR, 


For  the  next  four  years  the  Chronicler  has  nothing 
to  record  but  the  death  of  Edhelm,  Alderman  of 
Wiltshire,  and  Heahstan,  Bishop  of  London.  Then 
under  901  we  read  :  "  in  this  year  died  Alfred,  son  of 
Ethelwulf,  six  nights  before  the  feast  of  All  Saints  [ie., 
on  October  26th].  He  was  king  over  the  whole  English 
nation,  save  that  part  which  was  under  the  Danes. 
He  had  ruled  for  thirty  years  less  by  half  a  year,  and 
Edward  his  son  reigned  in  his  stead."  He  does  not 
add  a  single  word  of  praise.  The  record  of  what  he 
had  done  for  England  was  praise  enough. 


XX. 


ALFRED,  THE  MAN  OF  PEACE. 

Great  as  Alfred  was,  he  would  have  been  more 
than  man,  if  he  had  done  all  the  things  which  have 
been  attributed  to  him.     As  Lappenburg  puts  it,  "To 
the  hero  to  whom  the  nation  owed  so  much  it  grate- 
fully ascribed   all,  and  the  name  of  Alfred  became 
adorned  with  the  glory  of  Cyrus,  Theseus,   Numa, 
and  Charlemagne."     He  is  said,  for  instance,  to  have 
founded  the  institution  of  trial  by  jury,  whereas  it  was 
an  immemorial  custom  of  the  Teutonic  tribes  that  a 
man  should  be  tried  by  his  peers,  ie.,  by  his  equals. 
Some,  again,  have  given  him  the  credit  of  dividing 
England  into  shires,   hundreds,  and  parishes.      We 
may  be  certain  that  such  a  division  could  not  be  the 
work  of  one  man,  that  it  must  grow  up  gradually, 
and  take  many  generations  to  complete.     His  work 
as  a  maker   of   laws  may  be  described  in  his  own 
words.     "  I,  Alfred  the  King,  gathered  together  these 
laws,  and  had  many  of  them  written  which  our  fore- 
fathers held,  those  that  I  approved.     And  many  of 
them  that  I  approved  not,  I  cast  aside  by  the  counsel 
of  my  wise  men.     I  durst  not  write  down  much  of 
my  own,  but  those  which  I  niet  with  in  the  days 


■  ■aj>^'Jf»«Arf.. 


ALFRED'S   ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE,      2T% 

either  of  Ine,  my  kinsman,  or  of  Offa,  King  of  the 
Mercians,  or  of  Ethelbert,  who  first  of  English  race 
received  baptism,  such  as  seemed  to  me  the  best  I 
have  gathered  herein,  and  the  others  I  have  thrown 
aside."  He  speaks,  it  will  be  seen,  of  nothing  new. 
The  new  thing  is  that  the  laws  of  Wessex,  of  Mercia, 
and  of  Kent,  are  brought  together  to  make  a  common 

law  of  England 

In   the    administration  of.  justice   his   hand   was 
probably  felt  more  directly.      Here   the  need  of    a 
strong   and   righteous   ruler  was  especially  needed. 
Inter  arnia  silent  leges,  "  Laws  are  silenced  before  the 
sword,"  was  a  Roman  saying,  and  in  Alfred's  days 
the  sword  was  everywhere.      The  nobles  were  too 
powerful ;  the  judges  feeble  and  ignorant.     Alfred  is 
said  to  have  taken  from  the  aldermen  some  of  their 
powers,  and  to  have  handed  them  over  to  judges. 
To  the  doings  of  the  judges  themselves  he  looked 
most  closely.     He  urged  them  to  make  themselves 
acquainted  with  their  business.      Causes   that   they 
decided  ignorantly  he  himself  reviewed.     Where  he 
found  that  they  had  acted  corruptly  he  visited  them 
with  the  severest  punishment. 

In  other  branches  of  government  his  work  was 
great  and  useful.  "  His  budget,"  says  Mr.  Green,  "  is 
the  first  royal  budget  that  we  possess."  He  divided 
his  revenue  into  two  parts,  devoting  one  to  civil,  the 
other  to  ecclesiastic  purposes.  The  former  was  again 
divided  into  three  parts  :  one  went  to  his  "  men-of-war 
and  noble  thanes."  In  these  we  see  a  curious  antici- 
pation of  the  great  officers  of  State  of  modern  times. 
They  spent  one  month,  we  are  told,  in  the  King's 


ir- 


4 


ALFREr/S    ADMINISTRATION   OF  JUSTICE.      2T7 

either  of  Ine,  my  kinsman,  or  of  Offa,  King  of  the 
Mercians,  or  of  r:thelbert,  who  first  of  English  race 
received  baptism,  such  as  seemed  to  me  the  best  I 
have  gathered  herein,  and  the  others  I  have  thrown 
aside/'  He  speaks,  it  will  be  seen,  of  nothing  new. 
The  new  thing  is  that  the  laws  of  Wessex,  of  Mercia, 
and  of  Kent,  are  brought  together  to  make  a  common 

law  of  England 

In    the    administration   of    justice    his    hand    was 
probably  felt  more  directly.       Here    the  need  of    a 
strong   and    righteous    ruler   was  especially   needed. 
Inter  anna  silent  leges,  "  Laws  are  silenced  before  the 
sword,"  was  a  Roman  saying,  and  in   Alfred's  days 
the  sword  was  everywhere.      The   nobles  were  too 
powerful  ;  the  judges  feeble  and  ignorant.     Alfred  is 
said  to  have  taken  from  the  aldermen  some  of  their 
powers,  and  to  have  handed  them   over  to  judges. 
To  the  doings  of  the  judges  themselves  he  looked 
most  closely.     He  urged  them  to  make  themselves 
acquainted  with  their  business.      Causes   that   they 
decided  ignorantly  he  himself  reviewed.     Where  he 
found  that  they  had  acted  corruptly  he  visited  them 
with  the  severest  punishment. 

In  other  branches  of  government  his  work  was 
great  and  useful.  "  His  budget,"  says  Mr.  Green,  "  is 
the  first  royal  budget  that  we  possess."  He  divided 
his  revenue  into  two  parts,  devoting  one  to  civil,  the 
other  to  ecclesiastic  purposes.  The  former  was  again 
divided  into  three  parts  :  one  went  to  his  "  men-of-war 
and  noble  thanes."  In  these  we  see  a  curious  antici- 
pation of  the  great  officers  of  State  of  modern  times. 
They  spent  one  month,  we  are  told,  in  the  King's 


2l8 


ALFRED,   THE  MAN  OF  PEACE, 


Court,  and  gave  two  to  their  own  private  affairs.  A 
second  third  was  spent  on  the  "  workmen  skilled  in 
all  kinds  of  building,  whom  he  had  gathered  and 
brought  together  from  all  nations  in  numbers  almost 
beyond  counting."  The  last  portion  was  assigned  to 
strangers  that  came  to  him  from  foreign  parts,  and 
this  whether  they  asked  for  his  help  or  no. 

Of  the  ecclesiastical  part  of  the  revenue  a  fourfold 
division  was  made.  One  went  to  the  poor  ;  another 
to  the  two  monasteries  which  he  had  himself  founded 
(at  Athelney  and  Shaftesbury)  ;  a  third  to  his  school 
for  young  nobles  ;  the  fourth  to  all  the  monasteries 
and  churches,  not  only  in  England,  but  in  the  British 
kingdom,  in    Northumbria,  and   even    Ireland   and 

France. 

It  will  be  thought,  perhaps,  that  only  a  small  part 
of  the  royal  revenue  went  to  what  we  call  the 
military,  naval,  and  civil  services.  But  it  will  be  re- 
membered that  these  were  still  mainly  supported  by 
local  means.  But  here  also  Alfred  seems  to  have 
made  changes  which  tended  to  make  these  services 
stronger  and  more  permanent. 

Of  the  navy  we  have  heard  already.  This  indeed 
seems  to  have  been  almost  a  creation  of  Alfred's.  We 
hear  nothing  of  a  fleet  before  his  time.  But  during 
his  reign  we  hear  again  and  again  of  ships  being 
built  of  new  and  improved  designs  for  their  con- 
struction. There  is  nothing  in  which  the  great  king 
stands  out  more  clearly  as  the  founder  of  England's 

power. 

The  army  was  not,  of  course,  called  into  existence 
by  him  in  anything  like  the  same  way.     There  had 


EDUCATION,  LETTERS,  AND  LEARNING.       219 

always  be^n  an  army  in  which  every  able-bodied  man 
was  bound  to  serve.     This  would  have  been  a  vast 
force   with  which    no   invader   could    possibly   have 
coped,  if  it  could  ever  have  been  brought,  or,  when 
brought,  kept  together.        Here  was  the   difficulty. 
Every  man  had  his  own  occupations,  which  he  was 
loath  to  leave,  and  to  which  he  was  very  anxious  to 
return.     However  willing  he  might  be  to  serve,  he 
often  could  not  provide  himself  with  the  necessary 
arms.     When  an  army  had  been  brought  together  it 
was  not  easy  to  feed  it.     The  invading  Danes,  on  the 
other  hand,  were  from  the  very  necessity  of  the  case, 
a  standing  army.      They  might  be  beaten   by   the 
levies  which  were  hastily  brought  against  them.     But 
when  these  levies  had  dispersed  to  their  own  homes, 
they   were  still  there.      This  is  a  summary  of  the 
difficulties  which  Alfred  had  to  meet,  and  he  and  his 
successors  did  it  in  this  way.     Every  five  hides  of 
land^  sent  a  soldier  to  the  king's  army,  furnishing 
him  with  arms,  victuals,  and  pay.     At  the  same  time 
every  free  man  was  still  bound  to  serve  in  case  of  need. 
The   force  thus  raised  was  divided   into   two   parts, 
which  were  called  into  the  field  by  turn,  the  other 
remaining  at  home  to  defend  their  own  townships.^ 

But  Alfred's  greatest  services  to  his  country  were 
done  in  the  field  of  education,  letters,  and  learning. 
That  he  founded  the  University  of  Oxford  is  un- 
doubtedly a  fiction,  though  indeed  a  few  years  ago 

^  A  hide  of  land  =  120  acres.  This  may  be  taken  as  an  approxima- 
tion, but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  hide  always  meant  the  same. 

"  I  must  express  here  my  special  obligations  to  Mr.  J.  K.  Green  s 
**Conquest  of  England." 


220 


ALFRED,   THE  MAN  OF  PEACE, 


University  College  celebrated  its  thousandth  anniver- 
sary on  the  strength  of  the  story.     But  there   was 
certainly  a  school  attached  to  his  palace  in  which 
young  nobles  were  taught,  and  where  "  books  in  both 
languages,  the  Latin,  that  is  to  say,  and  the  English, 
were  continually  read."     The  monasteries  which  he 
founded  or  supported  had  also  schools  attached  to 
them,  and  were  regarded  by  the  King  as  promoters  of 
education  as  well  as  of  learning.     Scholars  were  in- 
vited  from   other  lands  to  help  him.       Thus  Pleg- 
mund  was  called  from  Mercia,  and  was  promoted  to 
the  Archbishopric  of  Canterbury.     Grimbald  was  in- 
vited from  St.  Omer,  and  Asser,  who  was  afterwards 
to  write  the  life  of  his  patron,  as  we  have  seen,  from 
St.  David's.     To  this  list  a  more  doubtful  account 
adds  the  famous  philosopher,  John  Scotus,or  Erigena, 
who  is  said  to  have  been  invited  from  the  Court  of 
Charles  the  Bald. 

But  Alfred  did  not  content  himself  with  giving 
money  or  land  to  schools  and  other  places  of  learning, 
or  with  hospitably  entertaining  scholars  from  other 
lands.  He  set  the  example  of  a  diligent  love  of 
letters.  He  found  time  amidst  all  the  distractions  of 
war  and  of  government  to  be  a  student  and  a  writer. 
When  he  was  nearly  forty  he  had  at  last  the  oppor- 
tunity of  learning  Latin.  At  his  accession,  indeed,  as 
he  tells  us  himself,  very  few  south  of  the  Humber, 
and  not  one  south  of  the  Thames,  could  translate 
from  Latin  into  English.  This  was  the  deplorable 
state  of  things  which  he  had  to  remedy,  and  he 
remedied  it  by  his  own  personal  exertions.  He  is 
not  indeed  the  first  of  royal  authors  ;  but  his  author- 


WORKS  ATTRIBUTED   TO  ALFRED, 


2Zl 


ship  has  the  extraordinary  merit  of  coming  out  under 
the  greatest  difficulties.  Occupied  almost  incessantly 
with  the  business  of  war  or  of  peace,  beset  by  fre- 
quent illness,  and  living  in  an  age  of  ignorance,  he 
yet  made  himself  a  man  of  learning  and  letters. 

His   chief  works,  and  though  many  others  have 
been  attributed  to  him,  perhaps  we  may  say,  his  only 
works,   were   translations.      One   of   these   was    his 
version  of  the  "  Liber  Pastoralis  "  of  Gregory  the  Great. 
His  preface  to  this  modestly  describes  his  motives 
and  his  method.      "  When   I  remembered  how  the 
knowledge  of  Latin  had  formerly  decayed  throughout 
England,  and  yet  many  could  read  English  writing, 
I  began  among  other  manifold  and  various  troubles 
of  this  kingdom  to  translate  into  English  the  book 
which  is  called  in  Latin,  *  Pastoralis,'  and  in  English, 
*  Shepherd's  Book,'  sometimes  word    by    word,  and 
sometimes  according  to  the  sense,  as  I  had  learnt  it 
from    Plegmund,    my    archbishop,    and    Asser,    my 
bishop,  and  Grimbald,  my  mass-priest,  and  John,  my 
mass-priest."     The  "Liber  Pastoralis"  is  a  treatise 
on  the  duties  of  a  Christian  minister,  and   was   m 
Alfred's  time  and  for  long  afterwards  regarded  as  a 
standard  work.    Another  book  which  the  King  trans- 
lated was  the  "  Historia  "  of  Orosius,  a  Spanish  priest 
of  the  fifth  century,  and  a  disciple  of  Augustine  of 
Hippo.     This  is  an  attempt  at  Universal  History, 
beginning  with  the  Creation  of  the  world,  and  carried 
down  to  A.D.  417.      Then   again  he  translated  the 
"Ecclesiastical    History"   of   the    Venerable   Bede, 
and  the  "  Consolations   of  Philosophy,"   written   by 
Boethius,  470-524  A.D. 


zzz 


ALFRED,    THE  MAN  OF  PEACE. 


If 


II 


But  he  did  not  always  content  himself  with  trans- 
lating. He  added,  for  instance,  to  his  version  of 
Orosius,  a  description  of  Germany  and  Northern 
Europe,  which  he  drew  from  the  travels  of  two 
subjects  of  his  own,  VVulstan  and  Ohthere.  He  inserts 
reflections  of  his  own  on  politics  or  religion  in  other 
treatises.  It  has  been  thought  that  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle  owes  to  him  not  only  its  form  in  the 
language  of  the  people,  but  something  of  the  spirit 
and  fulness  with  which  the  events  of  his  own  time 
are  narrated. ^  The  English  tongue  had  had,  indeed, 
its  poetry  long  before  Alfred's  time.  No  man  ever 
loved  that  poetry  better  than  did  the  great  king.  We 
have  seen  how  he  learnt  it  diligently  in  his  boyhood, 
and  we  are  told  that  he  taught  it  to  his  children.  But 
every  nation  that  is  lifted  at  all  out  of  the  merest 
savagery  has  poetry.  Its  literature  begins  when  prose 
is  written  in  its  language.  In  this  sense  Alfred  is  the 
founder,  in  a  sense  in  which  no  man  in  the  world's 
history  can  be  said  to  be,  of  a  literature,  and  that  the 
most  widely  read  and  richest  literature  that  there  is. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  hear  of  the  methods  by 
which  this  scholar-king  contrived  to  accomplish  so 
vast  an  amount  of  work.  "  Of  a  quantity  of  wax," 
says  Asser,  "  weighing  seventy-two  pennies,  he  caused 

^  '*  It  is  from  the  death  of  Ethel wulf  that  the  Roll  widens  into  a 
continuous  narrative,  a  narrative  full  of  life  and  originality,  where 
vigour  and  freshness  mark  the  gift  of  a  new  power  to  the  English 
tongue.  The  appearance  of  such  a  work  in  their  own  mother  speech 
could  not  fail  to  produce  a  deep  impression  on  the  people  whose  story 
it  told.  With  it  English  history  became  the  heritage  of  the  English 
people.  Baeda  had  left  it  accessible  merely  to  noble  or  priest ;  Alfred 
was  the  first  to  give  it  to  the  people  at  large"  ("The  Conquest  of 
England,"  p.  167). 


ll 


■niiiMi'ihi'iiiiiariiBiiiiUftfi  lifiiniirih]!  iif>  iltr 


if 


222 


ALFRED,    THE  MAN  OF  PEACE. 


But  he  did  not  always  content  himself  with  trans- 
lating. He  added,  for  instance,  to  his  version  of 
Orosius,  a  description  of  Germany  and  Northern 
Europe,  which  he  drew  from  the  travels  of  two 
subjects  of  his  own,  Wulstan  and  Ohthere.  He  inserts 
reflections  of  his  own  on  politics  or  religion  in  other 
treatises.  It  has  been  thought  that  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle  owes  to  him  not  only  its  form  in  the 
language  of  the  people,  but  something  of  the  spirit 
and  fulness  with  which  the  events  of  his  own  time 
are  narrated.^  The  English  tongue  had  had,  indeed, 
its  poetry  long  before  Alfred's  time.  No  man  ever 
loved  that  poetry  better  than  did  the  great  king.  We 
have  seen  how  he  learnt  it  diligently  in  his  boyhood, 
and  we  are  told  that  he  taught  it  to  his  children.  But 
every  nation  that  is  lifted  at  all  out  of  the  merest 
savagery  has  poetry.  Its  literature  begins  when  prose 
is  written  in  its  language.  In  this  sense  Alfred  is  the 
founder,  in  a  sense  in  which  no  man  in  the  world's 
history  can  be  said  to  be,  of  a  literature,  and  that  the 
most  widely  read  and  richest  literature  that  there  is. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  hear  of  the  methods  by 
which  this  scholar-king  contrived  to  accomplish  so 
vast  an  amount  of  work.  "  Of  a  quantity  of  wax," 
says  Asser,  "  weighing  seventy-two  pennies,  he  caused 

»  "It  is  from  the  death  of  Ethel wulf  that  the  Roll  widens  into  a 
continuous  narrative,  a  narrative  full  of  life  and  originality,  where 
vigour  and  freshness  mark  the  gift  of  a  new  power  to  the  English 
tongue.  The  appearance  of  such  a  work  in  their  own  mother  speech 
could  not  fail  to  produce  a  deep  impression  on  the  people  whose  story 
it  told.  With  it  English  history  became  the  heritage  of  the  English 
people.  Baeda  had  left  it  accessible  merely  to  noble  or  priest ;  Alfred 
was  the  first  to  give  it  to  the  people  at  large"  ("The  Conquest  of 
England,"  p.  167). 


224 


ALFREDy    THE   MAN   OF  PEACE, 


six  candles  to  be  made  of  equal  weight,  and  each  of 
twelve  inches  in  length.  These,  he  found,  were  burnt 
out  in  exactly  twenty-four  hours.  To  prevent  them 
from  being  extinguished  or  wasted  by  the  air  that 
came  from  the  doors  and  crevices  in  the  walls,  he 
caused  lanterns  of  wood  and  fine  horn  to  be  made,  by 
which  they  were  sufficiently  protected."  It  is  curious 
to  see  how  the  mechanical  inventions  of  classical 
times  had  been  forgotten,  or  at  least  disused.  The 
water-clock  would  have  been  a  simpler  method  of 
reckoning  time  ;  but  no  mention  is  made  of  it.  But 
our  admiration  of  Alfred's  genius  is  increased  by 
this  proof  of  the  rudeness  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived,  and  even  by  the  little  glimpse  that  we  get  of 
his  royal  dwelling,  so  indifferently  built  that  candles 
might  be  extinguished  by  draughts  that  blew  from  its 
doors  and  even  from  cracks  in  its  walls. 

There  is  another  thing  in  Alfred  which  must  not  be 
forgotten — his  goodness.  To  courage,  steadfastness, 
prudence,  knowledge  of  men  and  capacity  of  rule,  and 
learning,  he  added  a  personal  righteousness  and  purity 
that  is  not  easily  to  be  matched  in  the  records  of  man- 
kind. "Alfred,"  says  Mr.  Freeman,  "is  the  most 
perfect  character  in  history."  ^ 

'  This  is  summing  up  of  an  eloquent  panegyric,  that  is,  however,  not 
more  eloquent  than  just.  The  reader  will  find  it  in  "The  Norman 
Conquest,"  vol.  i.  pp.  48-52, 


I 


XXI. 

EDWARD  THE  ELDER,  AND  ATHELSTAN. 

Alfred  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  Edward 
(called  the  Elder  to  distinguish  him  from  another 
Edward,  who  reigned  some  seventy  years  later). 
This  prince,  who  had  distinguished  himself  in  the 
victory  over  Hasting,  was  chosen  by  the  Assembly, 
but  there  was  a  party  which  upheld  the  claims  of 
Ethelwold,  son  of  the  late  king's  elder  brother 
Ethelred.i  Ethelwold  rose  in  rebellion,  and  seized 
the  royal  town  of  Wimborne.     The   King  at  once 

'  Ethelred's  sons,  being  children  at  the  time  of  their  father's  death, 
had  been  passed  over  in  favour  of  their  uncle  Alfred.  This  was  the 
custom  of  the  time ;  it  was  necessary  that  a  king  should  be  a  grown 
man,  who  could  lead  his  armies  to  battle.  As  this,  the  first  and  simplest 
idea  of  kingship,  grew  into  something  more  complex,  and  the  king  was 
surrounded  by  ministers  and  officers  of  state  who  did  for  him  some  of  his 
work,  it  was  found  better  to  keep  closely  to  the  hereditary  principle. 
The  pretensions  of  Ethelwold  showed  the  inconveniences  of  the  older 
plan.  When  the  prince  who  had  been  passed  over  on  account  of  his 
youth  had  grown  to  manhood,  he  had  a  claim  which  it  might  be  difficult 
cither  to  allow  or  to  reject. 


2Z6.       EDWARD    THE   ELDER,   AND  ATHELSTAN. 

»  -•,'■.,  .1 

marched  against  him,  and  pitched  his  camp  at  Bad- 
bury,^  four  miles  and  a  half  north-east  of  VVimborne. 
The  pretender  had  declared  that  he  would  not  leave  . 
Wimborne  alive.     Nevertheless,  he  made  his  escape, 
and,  outstripping  the  forces  sent  in  pursuit,  reached 
Northumbria     The  Danes  were  not  slow  to  recognize 
the   advantage  of  having  with  them  a  pretender  to 
the  English  Crown,  and  made  him  their  king.     The 
alliance  was  dangerous    to    Edward,  but  it  showed 
that  Danes  and   English  were   no   longer   strangers 
to  each  other.     In  903  the  pretenders  brought,  from 
"parts    beyond    the    sea,"    says    the    Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle,   a   great   fleet  of   Danes.      Shortly   after- 
wards, in  company  with  the  Danes  of  East  Anglia, 
he  invaded  Mercia,  then    under   the   government  of 
Ethelred  and,  it  should  be  added,  his  wife,  Ealswith, 
daughter  of   Alfred.     They  reached    Cricklade,  and 
crossing  the  Thames,  plundered  the  region  which  still 
goes  by  the  name  of   Bradon  (west  of  Swindon  in 
Wiltshire)  which  the  'Anglo-Saxon  Chronicler  gives 
it.     Edward,  in  revenge,  marched   into  East  Anglia 
and  laid  waste  the  whole  region  between  St.  Edmund's 
Dyke  and  the  Greater  Ouse.     When   a  retreat  was 
ordered    the    Kentish    forces    refused    to    move  after 
repeated  commands  from  the  King.     Ethelwulf  and 
the  Danes  attacked  them,  and  a  fierce  battle  ensued. 
Two  aldermen,  a  king's  thane,  and  other  men  of  note 
fell  on   the   English  side  ;    on   the  other  hand,  both 
Ethelwulf  and  the  Danish  king  of  East  Anglia  were 
slain.     Edward  had  now  no  rival,  and  in  906  he  was 

'  Remains  of  a  camp  are  still  to  be  seen  on  a  hill  which  bears  the 
name  of  "  Badbury  Rings." 


LONDOr^  AND   OXFORD. 


2IJ 


able  to  make  peace  with  the  two  Danish  kingdoms, 
a  peace  which  seems  to  have  remained  in  force  for 

nearly  four  years. 

In  910  the  Danes  began  again  to  move.     Edward 
sent  an  army  into  Northumbria,  which,  after  suffering 
five  weeks  of  ravage,  was  glad  to  ask  for  peace.     The 
East  Anglians,  who  had  invaded  Mercia,  were  defeated 
at  Tettenhall  in  Staffordshire.    The  next  year  Edward 
collected  a   fleet  of  a  hundred    ships  on  the  south- 
eastern coast     We  do  not  know  the  object  he  had 
in  view,  but  it  has  been  conjectured  ^  that  he  wished 
to  help  Charles  the  Simple  against  Rollo,  who  in  this 
year  became  possessed  of  the  province  of  Normandy. 
The    Northumbrians    saw    their    opportunity,   and, 
bursting  into  Mercia,  plundered  the  valleys  of  the 
Avon  and  the   Lower   Severn.     The    English  army 
overtook  them,  as  they  were  retreating,  laden  with 
plunder.     In   the   battle  that   followed   two   Danish 
kings  and  a  number  of  nobles  were  slain.     For  some 
years   after   this   defeat   the   Danes   gave   but   little 
trouble,  and   Edward  had  leisure  to  consolidate  his 

kingdom. 

Ethelred,  sub-king  of  Mercia,  died  in  912,  and 
Edward  was  then  able  to  incorporate  into  his 
kingdom  London  and  Oxford.  The  widow  of  the 
Mercian  prince  survived  him  for  eight  years,  and 
during  that   time  heartily  joined   hands    with    her 

brother. 

Their  first  work  was  to  provide  fortresses  which 
might  at  once  serve  to  defend  the  kingdom  and  to 
furnish  bases  of  attacks  on  the  Dane-law.     Edward 

»  Lappenberg,  ii.  89. 


Mb  TTfTTHTTirtrii.Tififtiiiirtfii-iTr-itrTjri-ii 


I 


228       EDWARD   THE  ELDER,  AND  ATMELSTAN. 

built  one  at  Hertford  and  another  at  Witham  (eight 
miles  north-east  of  Chelmsford  in  Essex)  ;  Ethelfled 
built  others  at  Bridgenorth,  Tamworth,  Stamford 
Warwick,  and  elsewhere. 

While  Edward  was  engaged  in  strengthening  his 
power  in  Eastern  England,  his  sister  was  busy  in  the 
West.  Owen,  a  Welsh  sub-king,  had  invaded  Mercia. 
Ethelfled  drove  him  out,  and,  following  him  into 
Wales,  took  by  storm  the  town  of  Brecknock.  He 
escaped  and  fled  to  Derby,  which  was  held  by  the 
Danes.  Derby  was  stormed,  not  without  much  loss 
to  the  English  army,  and  Owen  killed  himself. 

The  English  power  continued  to  advance.  The 
Danish  fortress  of  Tempsford  (in  Bedfordshire), 
Northampton,  Colchester,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Edward,  to  whom  the  people  of  East  Anglia  and 
Essex,  after  a  subjection  of  many  years  to  the  Pagans, 
gladly  gave  in  their  allegiance.  The  Danes  at  the 
same  time  acknowledged  him  as  their  overlord. 
Ethelfled,  on  her  part,  gained  possession  of  Leicester 
by  the  surrender  of  the  Danish  garrison.  The  ex- 
ample of  surrender  was  followed  by  the  Danes  of 
York.  This  was  the  last  success  of  her  life.  She 
died  at  Tamworth  on  the  12th  of  June,  920. 

Serious  as  was  this  loss  to  King  Edward,  it  had  the 
effect  of  greatly  strengthening  his  position.  The 
daughter  whom  Ethelfled  had  left  did  not  succeed  to 
her  power,  and  Mercia  became  a  part  of  the  English 
kingdom.  With  the  new  power  that  this  increase  of 
dominion  gave  him,  Edward  proceeded  in  his  work  of 
bringing  the  Danes  under  his  sway.  It  would  be 
tedious  to  give  the  details  of  this  work.     What  was 


Edward's  statesmanship. 


^29 


I 

i 


done  in  Eastern  England  has  been  seen  already.  In 
the  West  and  North  it  was  equally  successful.  Under 
the  year  (^24  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  relates : 
"The  King  of  the  Scots  chose  him  for  lord  and 
father,  and  also  all  the  race  of  the  Scots.  Also 
Regnulf  and  the  son  of  Eadulf  and  all  as  many  as 
dwelt  in  Northumbria,  whether  English,  or  Danes,  or 
Northmen,  and  also  the  King  of  Strathclyde  and  all 
the  people  of  Strathclyde."  The  following  year  the 
King  died  at  Faringdon  in  Berkshire,  and  was  buried 
at  Winchester. 

There  was  no  one  to  do  for  Edward  what  Bishop 
Asser  did  for  Alfred— describe  him  to  the  generations 
to  come.  That  he  was  an  able  ruler  is  sufficiently 
clear  from  the  story  of  his  achievements.  He  found 
his  work  indeed  half,  or  more  than  half,  done,  but  he 
finished  it  with  consummate  skill,  without  suffering, 
as  far  as  we  know,  a  single  check.  "  He  was  equal  to 
his  father,"  says  Florence  of  Worcester,  "  as  a  warrior 
and  ruler;  and  inferior  only  in  learning."  Higher 
praise  there  could  not  be. 

Edward  left  five  sons  and  nine  daughters.  The 
eldest  of  the  sons  seems  to  have  been  of  inferior 
birth;  various  accounts  are  given  of  his  mother 
Egwin.  One  writer  speaks  of  her  as  "  a  noble  lady," 
others  as  "a  shepherd's  daughter."  Probably  she 
was  not  of  a  rank  sufficient  to  entitle  her  to  the  full 
dignity  of  a  wife.  However  this  may  be,  her  son 
Athelstan  became  a  favourite  of  his  grandfather 
Alfred.  As  if  to  show  that  he  considered  him  to  be 
of  princely  rank,  he  gave  him  a  purple  cloak,  a 
jewelled  belt,  and  a  Saxon  sword  in  a  scabbard  of 


^> 


/ 


V 


230       EDWARD   THE  ELDER,  AND  ATHELSTAN. 

gold.  We  hear  little  or  nothing  of  the  prince's 
doings  during  his  father's  life-time  ;  but  he  seems  to 
have  shown  courage  and  ability,  for  Edward  named 
him  in  his  will  as  his  successor.  His  second,  Ethel- 
ward,  may  have  been  in  such  feeble  health  that  it  was 
necessary  to  pass  him  over.  Anyhow,  he  died  a  few 
days  after  his  father.     The  others  were  too  young  to 


WILLIAM  OF  MALMESBURY. 


231 


INSTALLATION  OF  A  SAXON   KING. 

succeed.  Athelstan,  on  the  contrary,  was  in  the  full 
vigour  of  manhood  ^  when  he  was  crowned  at  Kingston 
by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

Athelstan  found,  if  not  a  biographer,  at  least  a 
writer  who  would  describe  him  with  peculiar  interest 
and  affection.  This  was  William,  a  monk  of  Malmes- 
bury,  and  one  of  the  most  learned  and  sensible  of  the 

»  He  seems  to  have  been  thirty  years  of  age. 


monkish  chroniclers.     William  of  Malmesbury  was 
born  about  1085,  that  is,  a  century  and  a  half  after 
Athelstan's  death.     But   though   he  was  not  a  con- 
temporary  like   Asser,  he   found   in   his   monastery 
many  traditions  and,  it  would  seem,  at  least  one  con- 
temporary record  of  the  King.^     From  this  he  prob- 
ably gets  the  features  of  the  portrait  which  he  draws. 
"  He  was,  as  we  have  heard,  of  proper  stature  ;  thin  in 
person  ;  his  hair  flaxen,  and  beautifully  wreathed  with 
golden  threads."    He  adds,  after  mentioning  the  colour 
of  the  king's  hair,  "  as  I  have  seen  by  his  reliques." 
He  was  liberal,  "  prescribing  to  himself  this  rule  of 
conduct,  never  to  hoard  up  riches.      .  .  To  the  clergy 
he  was  humble  and  affable  ;  to  the  laity,  mild  and 
pleasant;   to  the   nobility,  somewhat  reserved  from 
respect  to  his  dignity  ;  to  the  common  people  kindly 
condescending." 

Athelstan's  first  act  was  to  give  his  sister  (her 
name  is  not  known)  in  marriage  to  Sihtric,  King  of 
the  Northumbrian  Danes.  But  the  next  year  Sihtric 
was  killed  by  his  subjects,  who  may  have  resented  his 
alliance  with  the  English,  or  the  baptism  which  was 
one  of  its  conditions.  Athelstan  seemed  to  have  had 
little  difficulty  in  possessing  himself  of  the  vacant 
kingdom.     Sihtric's  two  sons  by  a  former  marriage 

»  Athelstan  was  a  liberal  benefactor  to  Malmesbury  Abbey.  His 
gifts  to  the  monks  have  gone  the  way  of  all  such  benefactions,  but  the 
town  of  Malmesbury  still  enjoys  his  liberality.  The  "  commoners  ' 
have  the  free  occupation  of  a  considerable  piece  of  land,  given,  the 
local  tradition  has  it,  in  consideration  of  the  aid  which  the  townsmen 
rendered  to  the  King  in  one  of  his  battles  with  the  Danes.  It  is  difficult 
to  see  how  the  Danes  could  have  been  found  at  any  time  in  Athelstan  s 
reign  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Malmesbury.  Possibly  if  the  gift  was  for 
services  in  war  it  referred  to  a  past  time. 


fi.»-.ji» I  ■■iai»^jtgj:tAfen«a5-'!»iMi»ii*-i:c'jajr<i 


230       EDWARD    THE  ELDER,   AND  ATHELSTAN. 

gold.  We  hear  little  or  nothing  of  the  prince's 
doings  during  his  father's  life-time  ;  but  he  seems  to 
have  shown  courage  and  ability,  for  Edward  named 
him  in  his  will  as  his  successor.  His  second,  PZthel- 
ward,  may  have  been  in  such  feeble  health  that  it  was 
necessary  to  pass  him  over.  Anyhow,  he  died  a  few 
days  after  his  father.     The  others  were  too  young  to 


WILLIAM  OF  MALMESBURY, 


231 


INSTALLATION   OF   A   SAXON    KING. 

succeed.  Athelstan,  on  the  contrary,  was  in  the  full 
vigour  of  manhood  ^  when  he  was  crowned  at  Kingston 
by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

Athelstan  found,  if  not  a  biographer,  at  least  a 
writer  who  would  describe  him  with  peculiar  interest 
and  affection.  This  was  William,  a  monk  of  Malmes- 
bury,  and  one  of  the  most  learned  and  sensible  of  the 

I  He  seems  to  have  been  thirty  years  of  age. 


monkish  chroniclers.     William  of  Malmesbury  was 
born  about  1085,  that  is,  a  century  and  a  half  after 
Athelstan's  death.     But   though   he  was  not  a  con- 
temporary  like   Asser,  he   found    in   his    monastery 
many  traditions  and,  it  would  seem,  at  least  one  con- 
temporary record  of  the  King.^     From  this  he  prob- 
ably gets  the  features  of  the  portrait  which  he  draws. 
"  He  was,  as  we  have  heard,  of  proper  stature  ;  thin  in 
person  ;  his  hair  flaxen,  and  beautifully  wreathed  with 
golden  threads."    He  adds,  after  mentioning  the  colour 
of  the  king's  hair,  "  as  I  have  seen  by  his  reliques." 
He  was  liberal,  "  prescribing  to  himself  this  rule  of 
conduct,  never  to  hoard  up  riches.      .  .  To  the  clergy 
he  was  humble  and  affable  ;  to  the  laity,  mild  and 
pleasant;    to  the   nobility,  somewhat  reserved  from 
respect  to  his  dignity  ;  to  the  common  people  kindly 
condescending." 

Athelstan's  first  act  was  to  give  his  sister  (her 
name  is  not  known)  in  marriage  to  Sihtric,  King  of 
the  Northumbrian  Danes.  But  the  next  year  Sihtric 
was  killed  by  his  subjects,  who  may  have  resented  his 
alliance  with  the  English,  or  the  baptism  which  was 
one  of  its  conditions.  Athelstan  seemed  to  have  had 
little  difficulty  in  possessing  himself  of  the  vacant 
kingdom.     Sihtric's  two  sons  by  a  former  marriage 

»  Athelstan  was  a  liberal  benefactor  to  Malmesbury  Abbey.  His 
gifts  to  the  monks  have  gone  the  way  of  all  such  benefactions,  but  the 
town  of  Malmesbury  still  enjoys  his  liberality.  The  "  commoners  ' 
have  the  free  occupation  of  a  considerable  piece  of  land,  given,  the 
local  tradition  has  it,  in  consideration  of  the  aid  which  the  townsmen 
rendered  to  the  King  in  one  of  his  battles  with  the  Danes.  It  is  difficult 
to  see  how  the  Danes  could  have  been  found  at  any  time  in  Athelstan  s 
reign  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Malmesbury.  Possibly  if  the  gift  was  for 
services  in  war  it  referred  to  a  past  time. 


•.i^* 


% 


232       EDWARD    THE  ELDER,  AND  ATHELSTAS. 

were  expelled.  One  fled  to  Ireland,  the  other,  after 
various  wanderings,  surrendered  himself  to  the  English 
king.  He  was  hospitably  entertained,  but,  after  four 
days  at  Court,  he  "  resought  his  ships,  an  incorrigible 
pirate,  and  accustomed  to  live  in  the  water  like  a 
fish."  The  stronghold  which  the  Danes  had  built  at 
York  was  destroyed,  but  in  other  respects  they  were 
treated  as  equals.  The  nobles  retained  the  power 
which  they  had  had  under  their  native  ruler.  But 
the  King  of  the  West  Saxons  was  now  also  King  of 
the  Northern  Dane-law.  In  the  same  year  the  Kings 
of  Strathclyde  and  North  Wales  acknowledged 
Athelstan's  supremacy.  The  West  Welsh  or  Cornish- 
men  seem  to  have  resisted  him.  They  were  expelled 
from  the  part  of  the  town  at  Exeter  which  they  had 
hitherto  occupied,  and  the  Tamar,  which  still  divides  * 
the  counties  of  Devon  and  Cornwall,  was  made  their 
eastern  boundary. 

Athelstan  was  now,  more  really  than  any  of  his 
predecessors,  an  English  king,  and  this,  not  by 
right  of  conquest  only,  but  of  government.  "  In  the 
number  and  variety  of  the  attendants  of  his  Witana- 
gemots,"  says  Mr.  Green,  "  England  saw  somewhat  of 
a  foreshadowing  of  national  life.  Never  before  had 
Danish  jarls  and  Welsh  princes,  the  primate  of  the 
north  and  the  primate  of  the  south,  nobles  and  theyns 
from  Northumbria  and  East  Anglia,  as  from  Mercia 
and  Wessex,  met  in  a  common  gathering  to  give 
rede  and  counsel  to  a  common  king.  As  witan 
[counsellors]  from  every  quarter  of  the  land  stood 
about  his  throne,  men  realized  how  the  King  of 
Wessex  had  risen  into  the  King  of  England." 


THE  STORY  OF  ANLAF. 


233 


For  some  years  Athelstan   was  left   in  peace,  to 
strengthen  his  kingdom  at  home,  and,   as  we  shall 
see,  to  make  alliances  abroad.     More  than  once  the 
Northern  Britons  rose  against  him,  but  it  was  not  till 
937  that  he  had  to  meet  a  really  formidable  attack. 
In  that  year  Anlaf,  son  of  Guthfrith  of  Northumbria, 
appeared  off  the  coast  of  that  province  with  a  fleet  of 
more  than  six  hundred  ships  which  carried  a  large 
force  of  the  Irish  Danes.     Constantine,  sub-king  of 
Scotland,  whose  daughter  he  had  married,  Owen  of 
Cumberland,  and  other  British  princes,  with  not  a 
few  men  of  English  race,  joined  him.     Athelstan  at 
once  marched  to  meet  the  invaders,  and   there    fol- 
lowed one  of  the  most  famous  battles  of  English 

history. 

William  of  Malmesbury,  following,  as  has  been  said, 
some  contemporary  record  now  lost,  tells  us  that  on 
the  eve  of  the  battle  Anlaf  disguised  himself  as  a 
minstrel,  and  so  found  admittance  to  the  King's  tent. 
He  sang  and  played  while  the  King  and  his  nobles 
were  occupied  with  their  meal,  and  received  a  piece 
of  money  when  he  was  dismissed.     This  he  was  too 
proud  to  keep,  and  buried  in  the  earth.     A  soldier 
saw  the  act,  and  recognized  the  Danish  king,  under 
whom   he    had    formerly   served.      The    man    told 
Athelstan  what  he  had  discovered,  but  not  till  the  false 
minstrel  was  safe  out  of  the  camp.     When  Athelstan 
reproached   him   for  this  delay   he   answered,  "  The 
same  oath  that  I  have  sworn  to  you  I  once  swore  to 
Anlaf ;  had  I  betrayed  him,  you  might  well  expect 
that  I  should  betray  you.     But  now,  if  you  will  con- 
descend to  listen  to  my  advice,  change  the  place  of 


iaiititaLaiiaeisiii^ut^fimiix^'\\i^iUlbl^i^ 


234       EDWARD    THE   ELDER,   AND   ATHELSTAN. 

your  tent."  The  King  followed  this  counsel,  and  had 
reason  to  be  glad  that  he  did  so.  A  night  attack  was 
made  on  the  camp,  and  a  bishop,  who  had  come  in 
with  his  attendants,  and  pitched  his  tent  in  the 
vacant   place,  was  slain ;  the  King   escaped  himself 

unhurt. 

For  a  day  or  two  longer  Athelstan  waited  till  the 
forces  that  he  summoned  from  all  parts  of  his  king- 
dom came  up.     Then  he  gave  battle  to  the  enemy. 
The  Chronicler  tells  us  that  this  was  the  fiercest  and 
bloodiest  fight  that  had  been  fought  since  the  English 
people  first  came  to  the  island   of  Britain,   and    he 
incorporates  in  his  story  a  poem,  probably  contem- 
porary,  which  commemorates  the  valour  of  the  kmg 
and  his  nobles,  and  the  complete  defeat  of  the  enemy. 
I  quote  from  Professor  H.  Morley's  version  some  part 
of  this  poem,  the  early  date  of  which  may  be  indi- 
cated by  the  fact  that  West  Saxons  and  Mercians  are 
so  pointedly  distinguished. 


"  This  year  King  Athelstan,  the  Lord  of  Earls, 
Ring-giver  to  the  warriors,  Edmund  too. 
His  brother,  won  in  fight  with  edge  of  swords 
Life-long  renown  at  Brunanburgh.     The  sons 
Of  Edward  clave  with  the  forged  steel  the  wall 
Of  linden  shields.     The  spirit  of  their  sides 
Made  them  defenders  of  the  land,  its  wealth, 
Its  homes,  m  many  a  fight  with  many  a  foe. 
Low  lay  the  Scottish  foes,  and  death-doomed  fell 
The  shipmen  ;  the  field  streamed  with  warriors'  blood, 
When  rose  at  morning  tide  the  glorious  star, 
The  sun,  God's  shining  candle,  until  sank 
The  noble  creature  to  its  setting.     There 
Lay  many  a  Northern  warrior,  struck  with  darts 
Shot  from  above  the  shield,  and  scattered  wide 


iftmi  -iffltTilim'iftiiiii^iiiiMMtiiri/rtiT 


BATTLE  OF  BRUNANBURGH. 

As  fled  the  Scots,  weary  and  sick  of  war, 
Forth  followed  the  West  Saxons,  in  war  bands 
Tracking  the  hostile  folk  the  livelong  day. 
With  falchions  newly  ground  they  hewed  amain 
Behind  the  men  who  fled.     The  hard  hand-play 
The  Mercians  refused  to  none  who  came. 
Warriors  with  Clave,  o'er  the  beating  waves. 
And  borne  in  the  ship's  bosom,  came  death-doomed 
To  battle  in  that  land.     There  lay  five  kings 
Whom  on  the  battlefield  swords  put  to  sleep, 
And  they  were  young  ;  and  seven  of  Olave's  jarls, 
With  Scots  and  mariners  an  untold  host. 
Then  the  Prince  of  the  Northmen  fled,  compelled 
To  seek  with  a  small  band  his  vessel's  prow. 
The  bark  drove  from  the  shore,  the  king  set  sail, 
And  on  the  fallow  flood  preserved  his  life. 
Then  fled  the  hoary  chief,  old  Constantine  ; 
Regaining  his  north  country,  not  to  boast 
How  falchions  met. 


235 


Then  in  their  mailed  ships  on  the  stormy  seas 
The  Northmen  went,  the  leavings  of  red  darts, 
Through  the  deep  water  Dublin  once  again, 
Ireland,  to  seek,  abased.     Fame-bearing  went 
Meanwhile  to  their  own  land.  West  Saxon's  land, 
The  brothers,  King  and  Athehng.     They  left 
The  carcases  behind  them  to  be  shared 
By  livid  kite,  swart  raven,  horny-beaked. 
And  the  white  eagle,  of  the  goodly  plumes, 
The  greedy  war-hawk,  and  grey  forest  wolf, 
Who  ate  the  carrion." 

The  English  army  suffered  severely.  Among  the 
slain  were  two  of  the  king's  cousins  —  Alfric  and 
Athelwin.  A  Scandinavian  poem,  but  of  later  date, 
claims  a  share  in  the  victory  for  some  Danish  mer- 
cenaries, who  were  in  Athelstan's  pay,  and  who  gave 
him  special  help  by  defeating  the  Scots  or  Irish. 
Brunanburgh,  the  site  of  the  battle,  cannot  be  iden- 


236       EDWARD   THE  ELDER,  AND  ATHELSTAN. 

tified.  It  was  probably  somewhere  near  the  Yorkshire 
or  Lincolnshire  coast. 

Athelstan's  family   alliances  with   foreign  princes 
were  remarkable.     One  of  his  sisters  was  married  to 
the  son  of  the  German  king,  Henry  the  Fowler.    This 
son   was   afterwards  the    Emperor   Otto   the   Great. 
Another,  who  accompanied  the  bride  to  her  German 
home,  became  the  wife  of  some  unknown  prince,  who 
possessed  a  "  territory  near  the  Alps."     A  third  sister 
was  married  to  Hugh,  the  father  of  the  famous  Hugh 
Capet  ;  and  a  fourth  to  a  prince  who  has  been  called— 
but,  it  would  seem,  with  doubtful  accuracy— Louis  of 
Aquitaine.     The  most  important  of  these  marriages 
was  that  between    Hugh  and    Edhild.      William  of 
Malmesbury  gives  an  account  of  the  splendid  embassy 
which   accompanied   Adulf   of    Flanders,    himself  a 
grandson  of  Alfred,  when  he  came  to  demand  for  his 
master's  son,  the  hand  of  the  English  princess.     He 
brought  "  gifts  such  as  would  satisfy  the  most  bound- 
less avarice,  perfumes  such  as  had  never  before  been 
known  in  England  ; "  and,  among  other  marvels,  the 
"  sword  of  Constantine  the  Great,"  on  which  the  name 
of  its  first  possessor  might  still  be  read  in  letters  of 
gold  ;    and   the   spear   of    Charlemagne,    which  had 
brought  unfailing  victory  to  the  great  emperor,  when- 
ever  he   had  hurled   it  against   the    infidels.      It  is 
beyond   the  scope  of  this   book  to  disentangle  the 
web  of  Athelstan's  French  politics.     It  must  suffice 
to  say  that  they  were  directed  against  the  Normans, 
the  kinsmen  and  allies  of  the  English  king's  worst 
enemies  at  home.     He  sought  to  strengthen  against 
them  first  Hugh,  then  Louis,  surnamed  d'Outremer, 


ATHELSTAN'S  REFORMS. 


237 


his  own  nephew,  whose  youth  had  been  spent  m  his 
Court  English  kings  before  Athelstan  had  had  rela- 
tions with  foreign  princes  ;  he  is  the  first  in  whom  we 
can  trace  a  distinct  foreign  policy. 

In  the  promotion  of  peace  and  order  at  home  the 
King  was  notably  active.     There  were  local  courts  of 
justice,  parts  of  the  old  English  life,  throughout  the 
kingdom,  but  they  were  overridden   by  the  usurpa- 
tions and  violence  of  powerful  nobles.     Athelstan  set 
himself  to  correct  this  abuse  by  giving  more  power 
to  the  superior  justice  which  proceeded  from  himself. 
"  If  any  be  so  rich  or  of  such  great  kindred  that  he 
cannot  be  kept  back  from  robbery  or  the  defence  of 
robbers,  let   him  be  taken    out  of   that  part  of  the 
country,  with  wife  and  child,  and  all  his  goods,  into 
that  part  of  the  kingdom  that  the  King  wills.    Antici- 
pations of  modern  Poor  Laws  are  to  be  found  in  the 
provision  made  for  the  support  of  one  poor  English- 
man on  every  two  of  the  King's  farms,  and  for  the 
redemptions  of  those  whom    debt   or  offence  had 
brought  into  a  state  of  slavery.     The  "  masterless 
men,  the   "sturdy    beggars"    of   a    latter  age,  the 
"  vagrants,"  who  are  so  well  known  to  ourselves,  were 
not  forgotten.     Every  man  that  had  neither  property 
nor  lord  to  answer  for  him  had  to  be  placed  under  a 
lord.     Strong  regulations  were  made  against  theft, 
which  was  to  be  punished  with  a  severity  that  long 
remained  a  blot  on  English  laws.^ 

Markets  and  trade  generally  were  put  under  strict 
regulation.     Attention  was  also  paid  to  the  coinage 

r  As  late  as  1827  the  stealing  of  goods  to  the  value  of  a  shilling  from 
a  dwelling-house  was  punisjiable  with  death  or  transportation. 


238       EDWARD   THE  ELDER,  AND  ATHELSTAN. 

of  money,  which  thenceforward  was  only  to  be  carried 
on  at  certain  places     Another  institution  of  English 
life,  to  which  Athelstan  gave  new  force,  is  strange  to 
modern  society.^     This  was  the  "  frith-gild,"  or  peace- 
club,  as  it   may  be   translated.     The  old   custom   of 
"  frank  pledge  "  had  been  one  in  which  a  man  freely 
engaged  with    his   neighbour   to   join  with   him    in 
wo'i-king  for  certain  objects  that  concerned  the  public 
good.     This  grew  up,  under  the  encouragement   of 
Athelstan  and  other  kings,  into  the  regular  system  of 
"  peace-clubs."     Every  member  of  them  swore  to  help 
his  associates  in  all  cases  of  need.     They  were  leagues 
against  violence  and  fraud,  benefit  clubs,  and  burial 

clubs.2 

Athelstan  survived  his  great  victory  at  Brunan- 
burgh  three  years.  He  died  on  October  20,  940,  and 
was  buried  at  Malmesbury.  His  tomb  is  still  to  be 
seen  ^  in  the  splendid  Abbey  Church,  which  is  all 
that  remains  of  the  great  monastery.  He  was  but 
forty-six  years  of  age.  Again  and  again  we  find 
England  suffering  grievous  loss  from  the  early  death 
of  some  of  her  ablest  kings. 

'  1  ought,  perhaps,  to  except  "  Vigilance  Committees,"  bodies  which 
have  been  long  familiar  in  some  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  which 
are  beginning  to  be  known  in  England. 

«  On  the  Continent,  where  the  Roman  law,  always  adverse  to  volun- 
tary associations,  had  a  firmer  hold,  these  -  peace-clubs "  were  put 
down  with  much  severity. 

3  The  tomb  itself  is  comparatively  modem. 


XXII. 


EDMUND  I.  AND  EDRED. 

Edmund,  half-brother  of  Athelstan,  and  youngest 
son  of  Edward  the  Elder,  was  but  eighteen  years  of  age 
when  he  came  to  the  throne.  Nevertheless,  three  years 
before  he  had  fought  by  his  brother's  side  at  Brunan- 
burgh.  In  those  days,  and  indeed  for  long  afterwards. 
Englishmen  of  royal  and  noble  race  ripened  early- 
It  was  at  fifteen,  when  a  boy  is  now  thought  but  just 
old  enough  for  a  great  school,  that  Edward  the  Black 
Prince  won  the  battle  of  Cregy. 

It  was  no  easy  work  that  the  young  Edmund  had 
to  do.  Athelstan  had  set  over  Northumbria  a  Nor- 
wegian prince,  Eric  of  the  Bloody  Axe.  "Eric," 
says  Mr.  Green,  "  is  one  of  the  few  figures  who  stand 
out  distinct  for  us  from  the  historic  darkness  which 
covers  the  north."  ^  "  Stout  and  comely,  strong  and 
very  manly,  a  great  and  lucky  man  of  war,  but  evil- 
minded,  gruff,  unfriendly,  and  silent."  ^  "  He  was  in 
name  a  Christian,  but  he  followed  the  ways  of  his 
heathen  countrymen."  As  he  had  little  land,  "he 
went   on  a  cruise  every  summer,  and  plundered  in 

'  "Conquest  of  England,"  p.  263. 
«  Saga  quoted  by  Mr.  Green,  i.c. 


240 


EDMUND  I.  AND  EDRED. 


Shetland  and  the  Hebrides."  When  Athelstan  was  dead 
Eric  felt  himself  unsafe.     He  took  to  his  ships,  and 
set  off  on  another  cruise  for  plunder.    The  Danes  of 
Northumbria  sent  for  Anlaf,  and  when  he  came  in 
04,  broke  out  into  open  revolt.    They  were  joined 
by  their  kindred  in  Mercia.  and  in  the  following  year 
found  a  powerful  supporter  in  Wulfstan,  Archbishop 
of  York     Anlaf  and  Wulfstan,  for  the  archbishop 
seems  to  have  taken   the   field   in  person,  led   the 
Danish  army  into  the  dominions  of  Edmund.    At 
first  the  English  were  worsted,  suffering  in  particular 
a  severe  defeat  at  Tamworth.     Then  they  recovered 
themselves.     Mercia  and  the  Five  Boroughs  ■  fell  into 
their  hands  ;  with  Leicester  Anlaf  and  Wulfstan  were 
almost  taken  prisoners.    Then  a  treaty  was  concluded, 
the  negotiators  being  the  two  archbishops,  Wulfstan 
and  Odo,  both  of  them,  strangely  enough,  of  Danish, 
or  half  Danish,  extraction.     By  this  Edmund  gave 
up  to  Anlaf  all  the  country  north  of  Watling  Street. 
The  Danish   king  was  to  acknowledge  Edmund  as 
his  overlord ;   but   this  was  a  matter  of  form,  and, 
for  the  time,  at  least,  England  was  reduced  to  the 
dimensions  which  it  had  sixty  years  before. 

But  the  time  was  short.  Anlaf  died  very  soon 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  and  his  dominions 
were  divided  between  another  Anlaf  (son  of  Sihtric  ^) 
and  R^l^^fflfr^n  of  Guthfrith).  They  enjoyed  their 
power,  however,  but  for  a  short  time.  In  944  Edmund 
drove  them  both  out,  and  the  Dane-law  again  became 
part  of  England. 

«  Bv  this  name  were  known  the  five  towns  of  Derby,  LinTOln,  Not- 
tingham, Stamford,  and  Leicester,  which  had  formed  a  confederacy  m 
the  early  days  of  Alfred's  reign.  '  See  p.  231. 


.»,  _».j>j.-j-.^...^  .^^-.?jf 


"HE  HARRIED  ALL   CUMBRIA. 


>» 


241 


In  the  same  year  the  English  king  still  further 
strengthened  his  position.  The  Britons  of  Strath- 
clyde  or  Cumbria  had  been  among  the  foes  of 
Athelstan  at  Brunanburgh,  and  they  had  taken  the 
occasion  of  Edmund's  weakness  to  plunder  the 
country  to  the  south.  It  was  against  them,  how- 
ever, that  he  turned  his  arms  as  soon  as  the  Danes 
were  disposed  of  "  He  harried  all  Cumbria,"  and 
handed  it  over,  when  it  was  conquered,  to  Malcolm  I. 
of  Scotland,  son  of  that  Constantine  who  had  barely 
escaped  with  his  life  from  the  defeat  of  Brunanburgh. 
It  was  a  wise  act,  for  Cumbria  gave  no  trouble  to  the 
kings  of  England  for  many  years  thereafter. 

After  a  reign  of  scarcely  six  years,  this  young 
prince,  who  had  shown  such  signal  proofs  of  ability 
as  a  soldier  and  a  statesman,  came  to  a  violent  end — 
another  instance  of  the  unhappy  fate  which  cut  off 
so  many  of  the  best  English  kings  in  the  very  midst 
of  their  work.  He  was  keeping  the  feast  of  St. 
Augustine  of  Canterbury  (May  26th)  at  Puckle- 
church,  in  Gloucestershire,  when  an  outlawed  robber, 
Leofa  by  name,  insolently  entered  the  hall,  and  took 
his  seat  at  the  King's  table.  The  cupbearer  attempted 
to  put  him  out,  and  Leofa  drew  his  sword  on  him. 
The  King  rushed  to  the  help  of  his  servant,  seized 
Leofa  by  the  hair,  and  threw  him  to  the  ground  ;  but 
the  robber,  as  he  fell,  drew  a  dagger  from  his  belt, 
and  stabbed  Edmund  to  the  heart 

Edmund's  sons  were  but  children,  and  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  brother  Edred,  another  able  ruler, 
but  short-lived  like  the  rest  of  his  house.  The  great 
event  of  his  reign  was  what  may  be  called  the  final 


242 


EDMUND  I.  AND  EDRED. 


conquest  of  Northumbria.  The  Danes  of  that  region 
made  in  Edred's  second  year  another  effort  for 
independence.  They  drove  out  the  two  princes  whom 
Edmund  had  established,  and  put  in  their  place  Eric, 
not  their  old  sub-king,  surnamed  of  the  Bloody  Axe 
but  a  son  of  the  Danish  king,  Harold  Blue-tooth 
(Blaatand).  In  947  Edred  marched  against  the 
revolted  province,  and  ravaged  it  from  end  to  end.  It 
marks  a  change  in  the  conditions  of  the  long  struggle 


ANGLO-SAXON   CUP. 
{Found  at  Halton,  Lancashire.) 

between  English  and  Danes,  that  it  is  no  longer 
the  Christian  people  doing  battle  with  P^S^"*-  J"^ 
of  the  chief  acts  of  vengeance,  with  which  Edred 
punishes  the  Northumbrians,  is  to  burn  to  the  ground 
the  great  Minster  of  Ripon,  while  Archbishop 
Wulfstan  is  found  again  among  the  chiefs  and 
counsellors  of  the  Danish  army.    The  English  king 


EDRED  EMPEROR   OF  ALL   BRITAIN, 


243 


seems  to  have  taken  the  Northumbrians  by  surprise, 
for  we  do  not  find  that  they  made  any  attempt  to 
resist  his  invasion.  But  they  followed  his  retreat,  and 
were  strong  enough  to  inflict  a  heavy  loss  upon  his 
army  when  they  overtook  its  rear  at  Chesterford  (in 
Essex).  The  king  was  preparing  to  turn  back  and 
avenge  this  disaster  by  a  fresh  ravage  of  Northumbria, 
when  he  was  appeased  by  entreaties  for  peace,  and 
by  large  gifts  which  were  to  compensate  for  the  lives 
of  the  slain. 

Three  years  afterwards  Archbishop  Wulfstan  was 
arrested,  and  imprisoned  at  Jedburgh.  Of  what 
followed  in  Northumbria  we  know  nothing  for  certain. 
Snorro  Sturleson,  the  Icelandic  chronicler,  tells  us  of 
a  fierce  battle  between  Eric,  son  of  Harold  Blue-tooth, 
and  Olaf,  who  represented  the  friends  of  the  English 
rule.  The  result  was  the  complete  defeat  of  Eric, 
who  fell  with  five  other  kings.  If  this  is  the  true 
story  the  Northmen  fought  among  themselves,  and 
the  English  king  had  his  work  done  for  him.  What 
is  certain  is  that,  in  954,  Northumbria  made  its  final 
submission,  and  was  put  under  the  rule  of  an  English- 
man, Oswulf  of  Bernicia,  being  changed  at  the  same 
time  from  a  sub-kingdom  into  an  earldom. 

In  955  we  find  Edred  styling  himself"  King  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons  and  Emperor  of  all  Britain."  In  the 
same  year  he  died.  He  had  long  been  in  bad  health. 
The  biography  of  Dunstan  ^  gives  some  piteous 
details  of  his  illness,  from  which  we  may  gather  that 
he  suffered  from  some  painful  ailment  of  the  stomach. 

'  This  is  the  first  life  printed  in  Dr.    Stubbs's   '*  Memorials  q{ 
Dunstan." 


EDMUND  I.   AND  EDRBD. 
244 

a*^  worn  out  with  old  age.     ^^^  ^'^  ^,      Uf- 

November,  betore  nis  1  hurrying    from 

could    reach    him.       Dunstan    was    '^""^   ^ 
Glastonbury  with  the  royal  treasures  that  the  King 
Sht "  freely  dispose  of  them  while  he  could.      Of 
Dunstan  it  is  now  time  to  speak. 


lfiaeih^i«*aadii;^Sliffif[^ig 


XXIII. 


DUNSTAN. 


DUNSTAN  stands  as  certainly  first  among  the 
Churchmen  of  Early  England,  as  Alfred  among  its 
kinc^s.  Unhappily,  we  cannot  get  as  clear  an  idea  of 
his  character.  All  or  nearly  all  that  we  are  told 
about  Alfred  belongs  to  history.  If  some  tales '  are 
mixed  with  it,  these  are  few  and  of  little  importance. 
The  story  of  Dunstan,  on  the  other  hand,  is  overlaid 
with  legend  and  fiction.  Even  the  almost  con- 
temporary Life,  written  by  "  B,"-  a  Saxon  priest,  and 
dedicated  to  Dunstan's  successor  in  the  archbishopric 
of  Canterbury  abounds  with  miracles. 

These,  indeed,  need  not  trouble  us  very  much.  It  is 
a  more  serious  matter  that  Dunstan's  life  has  been 
made,  so  to  speak,  the  battle-field  of  a  very  bitter 
controversy.  Into  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  this  con- 
troversy it  is  impossible  to  go,  but  it  may  be  briefly 
described  as  the  contest  between  the  Regular  and  the 
Secular  clergy.  The  Regular  clergy  were  the  monks, 
those  who  lived  according  to  the  rules  {reguiae)  of  the 

»  The  story  of  the  burnt  cakes,  for  instance. 

»  The  authorship  of  this  Life  is  fully  discussed  by  Dr.  Stubbs,  in  his 
"  Memorials  of  St.  Dunstan." 


246  DUNSTAN. 

various  monastic  orders ;  the  Seculars  were  those  who 
were  not  bound  by  such  rules,  but  lived  in  the  world 
{seculum).     They  were,  for  the  most  part,  the  clergy 
who  served  the  various    parish  churches  throughout 
England,  though  they  sometimes  held  preferments  in 
cathedrals.       It   was    as    to   the    possession    of    the 
cathedrals  indeed  that  some  of  the  fiercest  disputes 
occurred.     Some  bishop,  who  was  strongly  attached 
to  the  monastic  system,  would  try  to  turn  out  the 
Secular  priests,  and  bring  in  Regulars  into  their  places. 
As  to  the  parish  priests,  there  was  a  great  dispute 
whether  or   no   they   should    be    allowed    to   marry. 
Both  these  matters  would  cause,  it    is   clear,   much 
angry  feeling,  and   angry   feeling   tends  more   than 
anything  else  to  obscure  the  truth  of  history.    Dunstan 
was  believed  to  have  been  a  very  vehement  champion 
of  the  Regulars  against  the  Seculars.     Some  writers 
thought  that  he  was  right,  some  thought  that  he  was 
wrong,    according    as    they    favoured  this    side    or 
that;  but  they  all  agreed  in  exaggerating  his  actions  ; 
the  one  to  show  his  zeal   and  energy,  the  other  to 
prove  that  he  was  cruel  and  tyrannical.     It  is  not 
difficult,    perhaps,   for    us    to    be    impartial   in   the 
matter,  but  it  is  very  difficult,  at  so  great  a  distance 
of  time,  to  discover  the  truth,  hidden  as  it  is  by  the 
prejudices  and  interests  of  writers  of  the  time,  or,  in 
any  case,  much  nearer  to  it  than  we  are. 

Dunstan  was  born  in  920,  near  Glastonbury.  He 
was  of  noble  family.  Two  of  his  relatives  were 
bishops ;  others  were  attached  to  the  royal  household. 
His  brother  was  "  reeve,"  or  steward,  of  the  estates  of 
Glastonbury  Abbey.     Dunstan  was  sent  to  the  schooJ 


i 


DU>bI  A.N. 

\^From  the  original  MS.), 


246  DUNSTAN. 

various  monastic  orders  ;  the  Seculars  were  those  who 
were  not  bound  by  such  rules,  but  lived  in  the  world 
{seculum).     They  were,  for  the  most  part,  the  clergy 
who  served  the  various    parish  churches  throughout 
En<^land.  thouijh  they  sometimes  held  preferments  in 
cathedrals.       It    was    as    to   the    possession    of    the 
cathedrals  indeed  that  some  of  the  fiercest  disputes 
occurred.     Some  bishop,  who  was  strongly  attached 
to  the   monastic  system,  would  try  to  turn  out  the 
Secular  priests,  and  bring  in  Regulars  into  their  places. 
As  to  the  parish  priests,  there  was  a  great  dispute 
whether  or    no   they    should    be    allowed    to    marry. 
Both  these   matters  would  cause,   it    is    clear,    much 
angry  feeling,  and    angry    feeling   tends  more    than 
anything  else  to  obscure  the  truth  of  history.    Dunstan 
was  believed  to  have  been  a  very  vehement  champion 
of  the  Regulars  against  the  Seculars.     Some  writers 
thought  that  he  was  right,  some  thought  that  he  was 
wrong,    according    as     they    favoured  this    side    or 
that;  but  they  all  agreed  in  exaggerating  his  actions  ; 
the  one  to  show  his  zeal    and  energy,  the  other  to 
prove  that   he  was  cruel   and  tyrannical.     It  is  not 
difficult,    perhaps,    for    us    to    be    impartial    in    the 
matter,  but  it  is  very  difficult,  at  so  great  a  distance 
of  time,  to  discover  tlic  truth,  hidden  as  it  is  by  the 
prejudices  and  interests  of  writers  of  the  time,  or,  in 
any  case,  much  nearer  to  it  than  we  are. 

Dunstan  was  born  in  920,  near  Glastonbury.  He 
was  of  noble  family.  Two  of  his  relatives  were 
bishops  ;  others  were  attached  to  the  royal  household. 
His  brother  was  "  reeve,"  or  steward,  of  the  estates  of 
Glastonbury  Abbey.     Dunstan  was  sent  to  the  school 


M 


DUNSrAN. 

\Froin  the  original  MS.). 


■#lif^f  Bi  lii  iiaMSMate^EiiL..*a!aMaw».«Mg3Ui 


is>.y^-^  ^f'-^fl^v 


248  DUNSTAN. 

attached  to  the  abbey,  and  made  remarkable  progress 
in  his  studies.     It  is  interesting  to  hear  that  his  chief 
teachers  were  Irishmen,  and   that   he   studied   with 
special  attention    mathematics   and   arithmetic,   and 
that  he  became  a  proficient  in  music.     The  harp  and 
the  organ  are  mentioned  as  the  instruments  on  which 
he  played.     When  he  had  reached  the  proper  age  he 
was  ordained  ;  ^  and  not  long  afterwards  he  became 
a   monk.     This  latter   step   he  took   somewhat  un- 
willingly, and  not  until  he  had  been  warned,  as  he 
thought,  by  an  illness.  This  took  place  at  Winchester. 
Thence  he  returned  to  Glastonbury,  and  built  himself 
a   cell,   relieving   his   studies    and  meditations    with 
work  of  the  hands,  especially  with  the  labours  of  the 
forge.^     At  some  time  during  the  reign  of  Edmund, 
the  successor  of  Athelstan,  he  was  made  Abbot  of 
Glastonbury,    and   added    largely  to   the   buildings, 
while  he  reformed  the  discipline  of  the  monastery. 
When    Edred   succeeded    Edmund   on    the    throne, 
Dunstan,  who  had  been  a  fellow-student  of  the  young 
king,  at  once  took  a  great  part  in  affairs  of  State.  He 

«  By  this  is  meant  that  he  took  the  inferior  orders  ;  a  priest  he  did 
not  become  till  after  he  had  become  a  monk. 

"  Here  comes  in  the  famous  story  of  the  devil  and  the  hot  iron. 
William  of  Malmesbury's  account  may  be  thus  abridged :— One  day, 
towards  evening,  the  devil  looked  in  his  window,  as  he  was  busy  at 
his  forge,  and  asked  him  to  do  a  piece  of  work  for  him.  Dunstan,  who 
did  not  imagine  who  this  pleasant-looking  stranger  really  was,  readily 
consented.  But  when  his  visitor  began  to  indulge  in  loose  talk,  he 
began  to  suspect  his  character.  He  put  his  tongs  in  the  furnace,  blew 
it  with  his  bellows  into  a  white  heat,  and  was  just  in  time  to  catch  the 
jaws  of  the  tempter,  who  saw  that  he  had  been  discovered.  The  Evil 
One  fled,  crying  out  with  a  voice  loud  enough  to  be  heard  over  the 
whole  country  :  **  What  has  this  bald  head  done  ?  "  (A  "  bald  head  " 
because  he  had  the  monastic  tonsure). 


1 


CORONATION  OF  EDWY. 


249 


was  the  chief  adviser,  or  among  the  chief  advisers,  of 
Edred,  and  must  share  the  credit  of  his  successful  policy 
abroad  and  at  home.  He  did  not,  however,  give  up 
his  position  at  Glastonbury,  and  he  is  said  to  have 
refused  the  offer  of  the  bishopric  of  Crediton.  In 
this  position  he  remained  till  Edred's  death  in  955. 

Thenceforward  for  some  time,  Dunstan's  story  and 
the  story  of  England  may  be  told  together. 

Edred  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew  Edwy,  who,  as 
his  father  Edmund  was  not  born  before  921,  could  not 
have  been  more  than  fifteen  years  of  age.^     He  had 
no  liking  for  Dunstan  or  his  policy.      The  two  soon 
came  into  violent  collision.     Edwy  wished  to   marry 
a  certain  Elgiva,  whose  relationship  to  him  was  withm 
the  prohibited   degrees.-     This  was  itself  a  scandal, 
but  the  way  in  which  the  young  king  devoted  hnnself 
to  this  lady  and  her  mother  was  far  more  offensive. 
Early  in  956  the  coronation  was  held.     Most  of  the 
great  nobles  and  Churchmen  were  present  at  it,  and 
Odo,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  placed  the  crown  on 
Edwy's  head.     At  the  feast  which  followed,  the  King 
made  some  pretext  for  withdrawing.     As  he  did  not 
return,  and  the  cause  of  his  long  absence  was  sus- 

^  The  very  early  age  at  which  the  English  kings  married  is  noticeable. 
They  resembled  in  this  respect  the  French  Merovingians,  though  they 
did  not  degenerate  in  the  same  deplorable  way. 

-  These  degrees  extended  at  the  time  as  far  as  the  seventh,  i.e.,  as  far 
as  the  relationship  of  sixth  cousins.  People  might  not  marry  if  they  had 
a  common  ancestor  within  eight  generations,  inclusively  reckoned  Re 
lationship  by  marriage  was  taken  into  account  as  well  -^^^'-^7^^?^/ 
blood.  And  spiritual  relationship,  i.e.,  the  relation  of  god-father  or 
god-mother,  was  also  considered  to  be  a  bar,  but  not  to  the  same  extent. 
It  was  possible,  however,  to  obtain  dispensations  by  which  such  marriages 
were  allowed. 


250 


DUNSTAM. 


f 


pected,  Odo  and  the  other  nobles  sent  Dunstan  and 
a  kinsman  to  fetch  him.  They  found  him  with  Elgiva 
and  her  mother,  the  crown  lying  on  the  ground  be.ide 
him,  and  compelled  him  to  return  to  the  banquet. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  personal  offence 
given  by  Dunstan's  conduct  was  the  only,  or,  indeed, 
the  chief,  cause  of  what  followed.     Some  great  ques- 
tion of  government  was  at  stake.    Doubtless  this  con- 
cerned the  relation  of  the  smaller  states  to  the  leadmg 
kingdom,  Wessex.      It  has  been   stated   thus-that 
Dunstan  "  aimed  at  the  unity  of  England  under  the 
West    Saxon    king,   but   giving   home   rule  to   each 
state  "  ;  that  "  this  policy  was  disliked  by  the  West 
Saxon  nobility,  who  regarded  the  vassal  kingdoms  as 
their  own  prey,  and  desired  to  make  each  state  a  de- 
pendency  of  Wessex."  ^     Whatever  the  cause,  Dunstan 
fell.    The  opposite  faction,  which  was  headed  by  some 
of  the  King's  near  kinsmen   and  by  the  mother  of 
Elgiva,  triumphed.     Edgiva,  widow  of   Edward  the 
Elder,  and  mother  of  Edred,  was  stripped  of  her  pro- 
perty ,'and  Dunstan  withdrew  to  Flanders,  not  without 
running  some  danger  of  his  life  on  the  way.     At  the 
close  of  this  same  year  Athelstan,  Alderman  of  East 
Anglia,  who  had  shared  the  counsels  of  Dunstan  and 
Edgiva,  retired  into  a  monastery. 

In  957  Edwy  married  Elgiva.  The  marriage  was 
at  least  one  of  the  causes  which  led  to  quarrel  between 
the  King's  new  counsellors.     Some  of  them  retired 

X  *♦  Dictionary  of  English  History"  :  article,  ''Dunstan."  Just  at 
this  point  the  able  guidance  of  Mr.  Green  fails  us.  We  are  warned  that 
the  chapter  on  "  The  Great  Ealdormen,"  does  not  represent  his  matured 
conclusions. 


EDGAR  AND  HIS  PEACEFUL  REIGN.  25I 

from  the  Court,  and  set  up  Edgar,  the  King's  younger 
brother,  as  King  of  Mercia  and  Northumbria.'  Edgar 
recalled  Dunstan,  and  towards  the  end  of  the  same 
year  Archbishop  Odo,  after  pronouncing  the  marriage 
of  Edwy  and  Elgiva  to  be  void,  came  over  to  the  new 

king.  , 

Of  Edwy  nothing  remains  to  be  said,  except  that 

he  died  in  the  following  year.    The  Saxon  Chronicler, 

our  most  trustworthy  authority,  simply  says :  "  In  this 

year,  the   ist  of  October,  died  King  Edwy."     Later 

writers  speak  of  his  having  been  murdered,  or,  at  least, 

punished  by  some  violent  and  unhappy  death.2     The 

biographer   of  Dunstan,  mentioned   above,  has    the 

phrase,  "breathed   his   last  breath   in   an   unhappy 

death."      We  need  not  put   much  weight  on   these 

words,  for  the  writer  would  hardly  have   supposed 

that  a  persecutor  of   Dunstan  could  have  a  happy 

end. 

Edwy  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  his  younger 
brother  and  rival,  Edgar,  who  "  became  King,"  says 
the  Chronicler,  "  in  Wessex,  and  in  Mercia  also,  and 
in  Northumbria.  In  his  days  all  things  went  exceed- 
ing well,  and  God  granted  to  him  that  he  should  have 
peace  so  long  as  he  lived.  ...  And  he  loved  the  law 
of  God,  and  took  thought  for  the  peace  of  his  people 
beyond  all  the  kings  that  had  been  before  him  within 

•  He  seems  to  have  been  already  sub-king  of  Ihe  first  of  these  two 

^"The  fete  of  Elgiva  is  not  known.  The  stories  o  how  Odo  dtagKed 
her  from  the  arms  of  her  husband,  caused  to  be  branded  on  the  facewuh 
a  hot  iron,  and  banished  her  to  Ireland  ;  how  she  '-'"™f '""^  ''^ 
beauty  restored,  to  fall  again  into  the  hands  of  her  enem.es,  and  to  be 
cruelly  tortured  by  them,  do  not  test  on  good  authority. 


.,.., — .j^.u.a*MiM^.-a-  ..^-  a^.-.'.i 


252 


DUNSTAN, 


the  memory  of  man.  And  God  was  with  him,  so  that 
the  kings  and  nobles  diligently  obeyed  him,  and  did 
according  to  his  pleasure  ;  and  he  ruled  all  things 
without  force  of  arms  as  it  seemed  good  to  him." 
This  description  of  Edgar's  reign  agrees  with  the  title 
that  has  been  given  him  of  "  Edgar  the  Peaceable," 
and,  perhaps  we  may  add,  with  the  fact,  that  the 
Chronicles  have  little  to  say  about  this  time.  Eng- 
land was  enjoying  something  of  the  happiness  of  a 
nation  that  has  no  history. 

Of  Danish  invasions  we  hear  nothing  during  the 
sixteen  years  of  Edgar's  reign  (959-975)-  Indeed,  the 
King  himself  attacked  them,  making,  we  are  told,  an 
expedition  against  the  Danes  of  Ireland,  and  taking 
from  them,  at  least  for  a  time,  the  town  of  Dublin. 
The  Chronicler  accuses  him  of  showing  too  much 
favour  to  this  people  :  "  One  exceeding  great  evil  did 
he,  that  he  loved  the  misdoings  of  foreigners,  and 
established  pagan  customs  in  the  land,  inviting 
strangers  hither,  and  bringing  to  his  kingdom  harm- 
ful peoples."  We  do  not  know  enough  of  the  history 
of  the  time  to  be  able  to  understand  at  all  exactly  the 
meaning  of  this  accusation.  Perhaps  it  may  be  con- 
nected   with    Edgar's   personal   character,^  and  with 

'  We  need  not  credit,  much  less  relate,  all  the  stories  that  later  writers 
told  to  the  King's  advantage.  Some  were,  doubtless,  fictions  ;  others 
exaggerated.  But  there  must  have  been  some  foundation  for  them. 
One  may  be  briefly  related,  the  tale  of  Elfreda,  daughter  of  the  Alder- 
man  of  Devonshire.  The  report  of  this  lady's  beauty  had  reached  the 
King,  and  he  sent  a  friend,  Athelwold,  son  of  Athelstan  of  East  Anglia, 
to  see  whether  it  was  equalled  by  the  reality.  The  messenger  himself 
fell  wildly  in  love  with  the  beauty,  courted  and  won  her  for  himself, 
representing  to  the  King  that  her  charms  had  been  greatly  exaggerated. 
But,  as  time  went  on,  some  report  of  the  truth  reached  Edgar's  ears,  and 


THE  ENGLISH  FLEET, 


253 


favourites  of  Danish  race  whom  he  placed  in  his 
Court.  That  he  was  a  prince  of  violent  temper  and, 
for  some  time  at  least,  of  lawless  habits,  seems  beyond 
doubt,  and  he  may  have  offended  the  public  opinion  of 
his  time  by  the  choice  of  pagan  companions. 

The  foreign  politics  of  Edgar's  reign  were  chiefly 
concerned  with  the  Welsh  kingdoms.  Idwal  of  North 
Wales  refused  the  tribute  which  had  been  imposed 
upon  his  people  by  Athelstan,  and  regularly  paid  from 
that  time.  Edgar  invaded  and  ravaged  his  territory. 
Idwal  fell  in  battle,  and  the  Welsh  submitted.  The 
tribute  it  is  said,  was  thenceforward  commuted  for 
an  annual  payment  of  three  hundred  wolves'  heads. 
The  effect  was  all  that  could  be  wished,  for  in  the 
fourth  year  the  number  of  heads  could  no  longer  be 
collected.     Anotner  expedition  into  Cumberland  is 

also  mentioned. 

The  chief  of  the  means  by  which  Edgar  protected 
his  kingdom  from  invasion  and  reduced  insubordinate 
tributaries  to  obedience  was  his  fleet.  The  number 
of  ships  which  he  is  said  to  have  equipped  ^  is  beyond 
all  belief ;  but  we  may  be  sure  that  it  was  a  strong 
and  well-ordered  force.  Every  year,  after  Easter,  the 
King  held  what  we  should  call  a  naval  review.  He 
made  a  circuit  of  the  coasts  of  England,  and  inspected 

he  announced  to  Athelwold  his  intention  to  pay  him  a  visit.  The  un- 
happy  man  was  thus  compelled  to  tell  hi.  wife  what  he  had  done  and 
to  beg  her  to  disguise  her  beauty  as  much  as  she  could.  E Igiva,  angry 
hat  she  had  misL  the  chance  of  being  a  Queen,  did  exactly  the  oppo- 
she  using  every  means  to  heighten  her  charms.  The  King  paid  hi 
v^il  saw  the  deceit  that  had  been  practised  upon  him  and  avenged  it 
by  murdering  his  friend  with  his  own  hand.  Afterwards  he  married  the 
tidow  who'oore  him  Ethelred.  His  disastrous  reign  will  be  the  subject 
of  the  next  chapter.  '  Three  thousand  six  hundred  ! 


INCREASE  OF  DOMESTIC   TRADE. 


255 


EDGAR. 

{From  the  original  iW.)* 


the  various  squadrons  which  guarded  them.  It  was 
after  one  of  these  expeditions  that  he  received  from 
the  Celtic  princes  of  the  West  a  remarl<able  token  of 
their  homage.  The  sub-kings  of  Scotland,  Cumbria, 
Mar  and  the  Hebrides,  Strathclyde,  Wales,  and 
Westmoreland  met  him  at  Chester,  and  rowed  him  in 
a  barge,  which  Edgar  himself  steered,  to  the  monas- 
tery of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  There  they  joined  in 
worship,  and  thence  they  returned  in  the  same  fashion 
to  the  palace  of  Chester.  _ 

Edgar  did  much  during  his  reign  for  the  internal 

order  of  his  kingdom.     He  looked  himself  into  the 

administration  of  justice  by  the  aldermen.and  punished 

their  delinquencies  ■  severely.     Assizes,  as  we  may 

call  them,  were  to  be  held  for  every  borough  three 

times,  and  for  every  shire  twice  in  the  year.     The 

coinage  was   carefully   looked    to,  and  the    money, 

which  had   suffered   much   in   previous  reigns  from 

clipping,  kept  up  to  a  proper  standard.     Attention 

also  was  given  to  weights  and  measures.     There  are 

proofs    that   domestic   trade,   and   probably  foreign 

commerce,    greatly    increased    during    the      golden 

days  "  of  Edgar  the  Peaceable. 

Much  of  whatever  credit  is  due  for  this  prosperity 
belongs,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  to  Dunstan,  who  con- 
tinued to  be  the  King's  Prime  Minister  throughout 
his  reign.  He  became  Bishop  of  Worcester  and 
London  successively,  and,  shortly  after  the  dea^  of 
Odo,   Archbishop  of  Canterbury.      Elfs.n  of  Win- 

York. 


"'•ffl.^*^ 


.-)j 


f: 


KIH'.AK. 


INCREASE   OE  DOMESTIC    TRADE. 


235 


the  various  squadrons  which  guarded  them.  It  nas 
after  one  of  these  expeditions  that  he  received  from 
the  Celtic  princes  of  the  West  a  remarkaljle  token  of 
their  homat;e.  The  sub-kings  of  Scotland,  Cumbria, 
Mar  and  the  Hebrides,  Strathclyde,  Wa'es,  and 
Westmoreland  met  him  at  Chester,  an.)  rowed  him  in 
a  barge,  which  Edgar  himself  steered,  to  the  monas- 
tery of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  There  they  joined  in 
worship,  and  thence  they  returned  m  the  same  fashion 
to  the  palace  of  Chester.  _ 

Fd^ar  did  much  during  his  reign  for  the  internal 
ordcr^of  his  kingdom.     He  looked  himself  into  the 
administration  of  justice  by  the  aldermen,and  punished 
their  delinquencies  '   severely.      Assizes,  as   we  may 
call  them,  were  to  be  held  for  ever)-  borough  tliiee 
times,  and  for  every  shire  twice  in  the  year.     The 
coinage  was    carefully   looked    to,  and  the    money, 
which  had    suffered    much   in    previous  reigns  from 
clipping,  kept  up  to  a  proper  standard.     Attention 
also  was  given  to  weights  and  measures.     There  are 
proofs    that    domestic    trade,   and    probably   foreign 
commerce,    greatly    increased    during    the      golden 
davs  "  of  Edgar  the  Peaceable. 

'Much  of  whatever  credit  is  due  for  this  prosperity 
belongs,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  to  Dunstan,  who  con- 
tinned  to  be  the  King's  Prime  Minister  throughout 
his  rei-n.  He  became  Bishop  of  Worcester  and 
Londoit  successively,  and,  shortly  after  the  death  of 
Odo,   Archbishop   of  Canterbury.      EUs.n  of  W.n- 

.  He  is  said  lo  have  ravaged  ihe  Isle  of  Th.net  ^'^'^^^^^ 
tants  of  .hat  district  had  plundered  and  inn-n-n^J  -»"=  ''^^"^ 
York. 


256 


DUNSTAN. 


Chester  was  indeed  appointed  to  succeed  him  (Odo 
died  before  the  accession  of  Edgar),  but  Elfsin  died 
of  cold,  or,  as  another  account  has  it,  was  killed  by 
an  avalanche,  on  his  journey  to  Rome.^  Another 
successor  was  selected,  but  he  was  manifestly  unfit  for 
so  important  a  post,  and  hastened,  or  was  compelled, 
to  resign.  Dunstan  was  chosen,  in  the  year  following 
the  accession  of  Edward,  and  held  the  see  for  twenty- 
eight  years.     It  seems  to  have  been  vacant  for  two. 

In  975  King  Edgar  died.     He  was  in  the  thirty- 
second  or  thirty-third  year  of  his  age. 

'  Archbishops  had  to  receive  from  the  Pope  a  pall  {pallium),  which 
was  the  token  o  their  authority  over  their  suffragan  bishops.  They 
commonly  went  to  Rome  to  be  invested  with  this  by  the  Pope  in 
person,  but  it  was  sometimes  sent  to  them.  The  pall  seems  to  have 
been  first  given  by  a  Pope  early  in  the  sixth  century.  Its  importance 
as  a  sign  of  the  growing  Papal  authority  is  evident. 


XXIV. 


EDWARD   (THE   MARTYR)   AND   ETHELRED  THE 

UNREADY. 

Edgar  left  two  sons,  Edward  and  Ethelred.     The 
former  was  thirteen,  the  latter  seven  years  of  age. 
There  was  no  older  prince  of  the  House  of  Alfred 
who  could  be  called  to  the  throne,  and  between  two 
children  the  choice  seemed,  at  least  to  some  of  the 
nobles,  to  be  open.     Elgiva,  the  mother  of  Ethelred, 
claimed  the  crown  for  her  son,  on  what  pretext  it  is 
not  easy  to  understand,^  and  found  some  supporters. 
But  Dunstan   was   too  powerful   for  her.      He  pre- 
sented the  young  Edward  to  the  assembly,  and  gave 
him  the  royal  consecration  on  the  spot,  being  joined 
in  the  act  by  his  fellow-primate  the  Archbishop  of 

York. 

The  politics  of  Edward's  short  reign  are  extremely 
obscure.  The  Chroniclers  of  later  times  speak  as  if 
the  chief  question  in  dispute  was  whether  the  dignities 
of  the  Church  should  be  held  by  monks  or  seculars. 

I  It  is  said  on  the  ground  that  Edgar  was  not  crowned  when  Edward 
was  born.  But  neither  was  he  crowned,  as  far  as  we  know,  till  five 
years  after  the  birth  of  Ethelred.  The  only  coronation  of  Edgar  that  is 
recorded  took  place  in  973-  Possibly  Edward's  mother  never  received 
the  title  of  Queen. 


258 


EDWARD  AND  ETHELRED. 


But  even  if  this  view  be  accepted  we  are  still  in  the 
dark.     One  of  the  undoubted  facts  of  the  period  is 
that'"Oslac    the   great    Earl   of    Northumbria   was 
banished,"  and   another   that   "  Elfhere  commanded 
that  many  monasteries   should   be  destroyed   which 
King  Edgar  had  before  commanded  the  holy  bishop 
Athelwold  to    restore."     But   Oslac's   banishment  is 
lamented  by   the  monkish  chroniclers.     He  was  the 
friend  of  the  Orders.     And  if  Dunstan  was  in  power, 
why    was    it    that    Oslac    and    not     Elfhere     was 
banished?     It   has   been   suggested^    that   the    real 
question   in   dispute   was   the   relation    between    the 
King  and  the  nobles,  and  that  Dunstan,  whose  devo- 
tion to  the  monastic  cause  has  been  greatly  exagge- 
rated, ranged  himself  on  the  side  of  the  King. 

In'  976  there  was  a  great  famine  throughout 
England.  Two  years  afterwards  "  all  the  nobles  of 
England,  assembled  in  council  at  Calne,  fell  from  a 
certain  chamber,  save  only  the  holy  Archbishop 
Dunstan,  who  planted  his  feet  upon  a  beam.  Some 
were  grievously  wounded,  and  others  did  not  even 

escape  alive." 

In  this  year  Edward  was  murdered.  That  the  deed 
was  done  at  Corfe  Castle  in  Dorsetshire,  and  by  the 
instigation  of  his  step-mother  Elfrida,  may  be  taken 
as  a  certainty.  Later  writers  add  that  he  had  been 
hunting  in  the  neighbourhood,  that  left  alone  by  his 
attendants  and  wearied  by  the  chase,  he  made  his 
way  to  his  step-mother's  palace,  that  she  met  him  at 
the  door  and  presented  him  with  a  cup  of  wine,  and 
that  while  he  was  drinking  an  assassin   plunged  a 

»  "Conquest  of  England,"  p.  352. 


COKil:-  CASTLE. 

{The  Kin/ s  Tower—Saxon  Work,) 


2=i8 


EDWARD   A.\D   ETHELRED. 


But  even  if  this  view  be  accepted  we  are  still  in  the 
dark.     One   of  the  undoubted  facts  of  the  period  is 
that   "Oslac    the    great    Karl    of    Xorthumbria   was 
banished,"   and    another    that    ''  Klfhere  commanded 
that  many  monasteries    should    be  destroyed   which 
Kini,^  l^dgar  had  before  commanded  the  holy  bishop 
Athchvold   to    restore."     But    Oslac's    banishment  is 
lamented  by    the  monkish  chroniclers.     He  was  the 
friend  (^f  the  Orders.     And  if  Dunstan  was  in  power, 
why    was    it     that     Oslac     and     not     I'Llfhere     was 
banished?     It    has    been    suggested^    that    the    real 
(juestion   in    dispute    was    the    relation    between    the 
King  and  the  nobles,  and  that  Dunstan,  whose  devo- 
tion'^to  the  monastic  cause  has  been  greatly  exagge- 
rated, ranged  himself  on  the  side  of  the  King. 

In'  976  there  was  a  great  famine  throughout 
iMigland.  Two  years  afterwards  "  all  the  nobles  of 
iMigland,  assembled  in  council  at  Calne,  fell  from  a 
cerrain  chamber,  save  only  the  holy  Archbishop 
Dunstan,  who  planted  his  feet  upon  a  beam.  Some 
were  <'^rievously   wounded,  and   others   did   not  even 

escape  alive." 

In  this  year  lulward  was  murdered.  That  the  deed 
was  done  at  Corfe  Castle  in  Dorsetshire,  and  by  the 
instigation  of  his  step-mother  Klfrida,  may  be  taken 
as  a^certainty.  Later  writers  add  that  he  had  been 
hunting  in  the  neighbourhood,  that  left  alone  by  his 
attendants  and  wearied  by  the  chase,  he  made  his 
way  to  his  step-mother's  palace,  that  she  met  him  at 
the  door  and  presented  him  with  a  cup  of  wine,  and 
that  while   he  was  drinking  an   assassin   plunged  a 

»  "Conquest  of  England,"  p.  352. 


COKI  L   CASiLL. 

{The  King's  Tower— Saxon  1 1  'ork. ) 


a  MUAMiii^ftidjfseS^aMMffcsv  < 


li 


260 


EDWARD  AND  ETHELRED. 


dagger  into  his  body.  When  he  felt  the  blow  the 
young  King  set  spurs  to  his  horse,  but,  weakened  by 
loss  of  blood,  fell  from  his  saddle,  and  was  dragged 
along  till  he  died.  His  body  was  buried  without  any 
ceremony  at  Wareham,  but  was  translated  in  the 
following  year  by  Elfhere  and  Dunstan  to  Shaftes- 
bury, and  re-interred  with  royal  honours.  Pity  for 
his  untimely  fate  gave  him  the  title  of  Martyr,  and 
the  festival  of  the  translation  of  his  bones  retains  its 
place  in  the  Calendar  of  the  English  Church. 

Ethelred  was  crowned  at  Kingston  in   May,  979. 
He  was  then  in  his  eleventh  year.     Little  is  told  us 
of  the  early  years  of  his  reign,  but  enough  to  show  us 
that  the  old  troubles  were  coming  back.     The  incur- 
sions of  the  pirates,  from  which  England  had  been 
almost    entirely  free,  for   many  years   began   again. 
They  were  rendered  restless  at  home  by  the  growing 
strength   of  the   royal   power,   and    by   the    conflict 
between  Christianity  and  their  old  faith,  while  they 
soon    found  out  that    England  was   less  vigorously 
governed  and  protected  than  it  had  been  for  many 
generations.     The  great  fleet  which  Edgar  had  raised 
for  the  defence  of  the  coasts  had  disappeared.    As  early 
as  the  second  year  of  Ethelred's  reign  we  hear  of 
places  so  widely  apart  as  Kent,  Southampton,  and 
Chester  being  ravaged  by  the  pirates.     Then  there 
were  troubles  and  strife  at  home.     London,  always 
the  richest,  if  not  the  most  politically  important,  city 
of  the  kingdom  was  burnt  to  the  ground.     "  A  great 
murrain  of  cattle  happened  for  the  first  time  in  the 
English  nation."  Elfric,  ruler  of  Mercia,  was  banished, 
and  the  King,  for  some  reason  which  is  not  known  to 


DEATH  OF  DUNSTAN. 


261 


US   laid  siege  to  Rochester,  and  unable  to  take  the 
town,  ravaged  the  lands  of  the  bishopric.     And  then 
in  988  ^  the  great  Dunstan  died.     He  had  been  pre- 
sent   at   the    coronation  of   Ethelred,  probably  had 
himself  performed  it.   William  of  Malmesbury  records 
the  prophecy  which  he  is  said  to  have  uttered  on  that 
occasion:  "The  sin  of  thy  mother  and  of  the  men 
that  conspired  with  her  in  her  wicked  deed  shall  not 
be  washed   out  but  with  the  blood  of  many ;  and 
there  shall  come  upon  the  English  people  such  evils 
as  it  has  not   sufl^ered  from   the   day  that  it   came 
hither  until  now !  »     From  that  time  the  great  Arch- 
bishop  had  little  or  no  part  in  affairs  of  state,  though 
he  is  said  to  have  bought  ofl*  the  King  from  his  attack 
on  Rochester  by  the  present  of  a  hundred  pounds, 
and  to  have  expressed  his  contempt  for  his  meanness 
in  taking  it.     He  occupied  himself  with  the  care  of 
his  diocese  and  his  province,  and  what  time  these  and 
his  private  devotions  left  him  he  gave  to  study     On 
Ascension  Day,  May  17th,  he  preached  three  times 
and  entertained  his  guests  with  his  customary  c^^^^^^^^ 
fulness.     Two  days  afterwards  he  died,  "  a  "lan    says 
his  biographer,  "  not  of  very  advanced  years,  but  of 
boundless  sanctity,  whose  virtues  exceeded  aAl  repor  s 
Tthem,  and  who  postponed  till  his  own  departure 
tL  ru"   that  had   long  since  been  threatening  his 

This'^danger  was  indeed  more  formidable  than  the 
.  Dunstan's  name  is  stiU  kept  in  the  Anglican  Calendar. 


262 


EDWARD   AND  ETHELRED. 


red's  reign,  nearly  thirty  years,  was  spent  in  vain 
attempts  to  keep  off  these  terrible  foes  from  the 
North.      Bribery,  battle,  massacre  were  all  tried  in 

turn,  and  all  failed. 

The  great  leader  of  the  Danes  in  this  struggle  was 
Swegen,  commonly  known  as  Sweyn,  son  of  Harald 
Blue-tooth.  Sweyn,  who  had  been  baptized,  but  had 
thrown  off  his  Christianity,  represented  the  old 
heathen  party.  In  this  character  he  had  waged  war 
with  his  father,  and  this  was  one  of  the  causes  why, 
after  a  very  brief  occupation  of  the  throne  on  Harald's 
death  in  986,  he  was  driven  into  exile.  A  Danish 
exile  took,  of  course,  to  piracy,  and  the  raids  which 
had  ceased  for  a  time  during  Sweyn's  struggle  with 
his  father  and  brief  tenure  of  his  kingdom,  began 
again  in  a  worse  form  than  ever.  In  the  very  year 
of  Dunstan's  death,  "  Goda,  Thane  of  Devonshire, 
was  slain,  and  with  him   there  was   made   a   great 

slaughter." 

But  it  was  three  years  afterwards  that  there  hap- 
pened one  of  the  most  famous  and  disastrous  battles 
that  ever  has  been  fought  on  English  soil.  Sweyn 
himself  was  not  present ;  the  leaders  of  the  North- 
men being  Justin  and  Guthmund,  lieutenants  of  Olaf 
Tryggvason,  King  of  Norway,  and  possibly  Olaf  him- 
self. It  is  not  certain  where  the  invaders  landed, 
but  it  must  have  been  somewhere  on  the  eastern  or 
south-eastern  coast.  Anyhow  we  hear  of  Staines,^ 
Sandwich,  and  Ipswich,  as  being  places  which  they 
harried.  But  it  was  at  Maldon  in  Essex  that  they 
met  the  English  forces,  led  by  Brithnoth,  Alderman 

»  If  the  **  Stane  "  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  be  Staines. 


BATTLE   OF  MALDON. 


263- 


Of  East  AngHa.     The  Danish  ships  had  sailed  up  the 
estuary  of  the  Blackwater,  and  lay  in  a  creek  near  the 
town.     The  invaders  occupied  the  space  between  this 
creek  and  another  which  is  a  little  further  off  from 
Maldon.     On  the  further  side  of  thi^lf  ^;;^^%7^ 
were  ranged  the  Englishmen  under  Bnthnoth.     The 
first  struggle  was  for  the  bridge  which  spanned  it.     It 
was  held,  and  held  successfully,  by  three  champions 
whose  names  the  poet  who  tells  the  story  of  the  grea 
fight  gives  as  Wulfstan,  Elfhere,  and  Maccus      But 
when  the  tide  in  the  creek   had   ebbed  the   bridge 
ceased   to   be   an   important   post.     The  water  was 
shallow  enough  to  be  forded,  and  the  English  chief 
permitted,  or,  perhaps,  could  not  P^--"!^^^.^^^^"^ 
of  a  large  body  of  the  invaders.     The  English  stood 
to  receive  them,  in  a  close  line,  with   their  shields 
locked  together.     Each  army  sent  a  flight  of  javelins 
at  each  ofher,  and  then  closed  in  deadly  conflict  with 
the  broad  sword.     The  Alderman,  wounded  ear  y  m 
the  battle,  fought  on  till  he  died,  not  ^-^-g  ^^  ^^^^^^^ 
life  dearly.     The  struggle  went  on  over  his  corpse, 
t^l  a  par^c  fell  on  the  English  line,  and  the  Danes 
w  re  able  to  carry  off  the  dead  hero      But  it  was 
Recovered  from  their  hands,  whether  by  their   own 
action  in  doing  honour  to  so  brave  a  foe,  or  by  a  saUy 
of  the  English,  we  cannot  say.    Anyhow  it  was  buried 
in  the  great  church  of  Ely  with  all  the  honours  that 
the  abbot  and  his  monks  could  pay. 

The  vLry  at  Maldon  rested  with  the  Danes,  but 
if  there  had  been  many  English  leaders  such  as  Bn  h- 
no  h  it  would  have  been  like  the  victories  oyer  the 
Romans  which  cost  Pyrrhus  so  dear.  Unhapply  such 


264 


EDWARD   AND   ETHELRED, 


were  not  to  be  found,  or  they  had  not  the  ear  of  the 
king.  Instead  of  readily  resisting,  Ethelred  and  his 
counsellors,  among  whom  was  Sigeric,  an  unworthy 
successor  of  Dunstan,  preferred  the  cowardly  and 
foolish  policy  of  buying  off  the  invaders.  Olaf  and 
his  two  lieutenants  received  a  sum  of  ten  thousand 
pounds.  They  promised  in  return  to  help  the  Eng- 
lish king  against  any  other  invaders,  and  to  keep  the 
peace  themselves. 

The  second  condition  they  seem  very  soon  to  hav^ 
broken.     The  next  year  we  find  the  English  king 
assembling   a  great  fleet  at   London    to  attack    the 
Northmen.      And   we   find   also    for   the  first   time 
treachery  in  the  English  councils.     Elfric,  Alderman 
of  Wiltshire,  who   was   joined    in  command  of  the 
English  ships  with  another  great  noble  and  with  two 
bishops,  sent  secret  word  to  the  Northmen  that  their 
fleet  would  be  surrounded.     On  the  eve  of  the  attack 
he  himself  deserted  to  the  enemy,  and  escaped  with 
them.     The    English   fleet  could    not   capture   more 
than  a  single  ship  ;  but  it  afterwards  met  and  van- 
quished the  Danes  at  sea.     On  this  occasion  Elfgar, 
son  of  Elfric,  was  taken  prisoner,  and  was  blinded  by 
order  of  Ethelred.     The    Danes  sailed    northwards, 
ravaged  the  coasts  of  Lincolnshire  and  Northumbria, 
and  defeated  the   forces   which   were   assembled   to 
meet   them.      Here,   again,   treachery  was  at  work. 
The  three  leaders  of  the  English  left  the  field.     They 
had  this  excuse,  which  cannot  be  made  for  Elfric,  that 
they  were  of  Danish  descent. 

In  994  a  formidable  force  sailed  up  the  Thames  to 
London.     It  consisted  of  ninety-four  ships,  and  w^g 


X 

C/3 

o 
z, 

> 


264 


EDWARD   AXD   ETHKLRED, 


were  not  to  be  found,  or  they  had  not  the  ear  of  the 
king.  Instead  of  readily  resistin^r,  Ethelred  and  his 
counsellors,  among  whom  was  Sigcric,  an  unworthy 
successor  of  Dunstan,  preferred  the  cowardly  and 
foolish  policy  of  buying  off  the  invaders.  Olaf  and 
his  two  lieutenants  received  a  sum  of  ten  thousand 
pounds.  They  promised  in  return  to  help  the  Eng- 
lish king  against  any  other  invaders,  and  to  keep  the 
peace  themselves. 

The  second  condition  they  seem  very  soon  to  hav.^ 
broken.     The  next  year  we   find  the  English  king 
assembling   a  great  fleet  at   London    to  attack    the 
Northmen.      And    we   find   also    for   the  first   time 
treachery  in  the  English  councils.     Elfric,  Alderman 
of  Wiltshire,  who   was   joined    in   command  of  the 
English  ships  with  another  great  noble  and  with  two 
bishops,  sent  secret  word  to  the  Northmen  that  their 
fleet  would  be  surrounded.     On  the  eve  of  the  attack 
he  himself  deserted  to  the  enemy,  and  escaped  with 
them.     The    English    fleet  could    not   capture    more 
than  a  single  ship  ;  but  it  afterwards  met  and  van- 
quished the  Danes  at  sea.     On  this  occasion  Elfgar, 
son  of  Elfric,  was  taken  prisoner,  and  was  blinded  by 
order  of  Ethelred.     The    Danes  sailed    northwards, 
ravaf^ed  the  coasts  of  Lincolnshire  and  Northumbria, 
and  defeated  the   forces   which   were   assembled    to 
meet   them.      Here,    again,    treachery  was   at  work. 
The  three  leaders  of  the  English  left  the  field.     They 
had  this  excuse,  which  cannot  be  made  for  Elfric,  that 
they  were  of  Danish  descent. 

In  994  a  formidable  force  sailed  up  the  Thames  to 
London.     It  consisted  of  ninety-four  ships,  and  wag 


' 


> 


8iMBMiaaaigBafaa»afflrififcaa>ijeto  :'.««<i5haia;tifak>;>fejaia^tta£»^^  i 


kJUMfo  K>i''^a.  ^■^ *^— 'Sr-j.J 


266 


EDWARD    AND   ETHELRED. 


commanded   by   Sweyn   of  Denmark  and    Olaf   of 
Norway     The  Northmen  attacked  the  city,  and  were 
beaten  back  by  the  citizens,  who  showed  their  valour 
not  for  the  first  or  the  last  time  in  their   history. 
The  invaders  "  suffered,"  says  the  Chronicler,  "  more 
loss  and  damage   than  they  had  thought   that   any 
men  could  inflict  upon  them."     They  revenged  them- 
selves  by  cruelly  ravaging  all  the  region    of    East 
Anglia,  Kent,  Sussex,  and  Hampshire.     Ethelred  did 
not  attempt  to  imitate  the  valour  of  the  Londoners 
but  went  back  to  the  miserable  policy  of  Maldon,  and 
bought  off  the  enemy.     This  time,   indeed,  a  more 
sagacious  course  was  followed,  and  the  enemy  was 
divided  against  himself.    The  king's  offers  were  made 
to  Olaf  of  Norway ;    he  received  sixteen  thousand 
pounds,  and.  after  taking  hostages  to  secure  his  safe 
return,  was  conducted  to  Ethelred.  at  Andover   There 
he  was  received  with  great  honour,  and  underwent 
the  rite  of  confirmation  at  the  hands  of  the  Bishop 
of  Winchester,  the  English  king  standing  sponsor  for 
him      He  made  a  promise  that  he  would  never  again 
visit  England  as  an  enemy,  and  this  promise  he  kept. 
Indeed  he  never  returned  at  all ;  but  served  his  new 
friends  by  waging  war  with  the  King  of  Denmark 
It  was  in  a  sea-fight  with  him  that  he  died  six  years 
afterwards  (A.D.  looo). 


I 


XXV. 

ETHELRED  AND  SWEYN. 

For  two  years  after  the  treaty  with  Olaf  England 
had  rest  from  the  Northmen.     It  is  significant  of  the 
feeling  of  security  that  this  breathing  space  seemed  to 
give,  that  now  at  last   the  long  wanderings  of  the 
relics  of  Cuthbert  of  Lindisfarne  came   to   an  end. 
Their  first  resting-place  had  been  in  the  monastery  of 
Lindisfarne.     thence  they  had  been  removed  at  the 
rumour  of  the  Danish  invasion  of  875.     After  eight 
years  of  wandering,  during  which  it  was  at  one  time 
intended  to  transport  them  to  Ireland,  they  found  in 
883  what  seemed  a  permanent  abode  at  Chester-le- 
Street,  five  miles  north  of  the  present  city  of  Durham. 
At  Chester-le- Street  they  remained  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years.     Again  the  terror  of  the  Danes  drove 
them  forth.     This  time  they  wandered   as  far  south 
as  Ripon  in  Yorkshire.     Thence  again,  when  peace 
seemed  assured,  they  set  out  for  their  old  home  at 
Chester     But  the  bishop  and   his   monks   were  at- 
tracted on  their  road  by  the  charms  of  the  site  at 
Durham.     At  Durham  they  remained,  and  remain  to 


iWl 


268 


ETHELRBD  AND  SWEYN. 


this   day.      The    hope   of  peace   was   disappointed, 
but  that  it  was  strong  at  the  time  is  proved  by  the 
action  of  the  guardians  of  the  relics.     It  was  still  some 
years  before  the  great  Sweyn  was  to  reappear.     He 
was  busy  at  home.     But  the  incursions  of  the  North- 
men began  again  in  997-     I"  that  and  the  two  fol-     ■ 
lowing  years  they  are  reported  as  having  ravaged  the 
south  and  west  coasts  of  England.     Cornwall,  Wales, 
Devonshire,  Dorsetshire,  the  Isle  of  Wight,  Sussex, 
and  Kent,  are  mentioned  among  the  places  which 
suffered  from  them.     It  was  the  plunder  of  these  last 
districts  that  seems  to  have  stirred  up  the  King  and 
his  counsellors  to  action  ;  but  it  was  action  that  did 
more  harm   than  good.      After  telling  us  that  the 
Danes,  when  they  had  routed  the  men  of  Kent,  took 
to   themselves   horses,  and  rode  whithersoever  they 
would,  and   laid  waste    the  whole  western   part  of 
Kent,  the  Chronicler  goes  on:  "Then  it  was  ordered 
by  the  King  and  his  nobles  that  an  army  should  be 
gathered  together  both  by  sea  and  land.     But  when 
the  ships  had  been  got  ready,  they  delayed  from  day 
to   day,  and  the  unhappy  people  that   manned  the 
ships  were  sore  distressed.     And  if  ever  the  fleet  was 
about  to  sail  forth,  it  was  always  hindered  from  one 
time  to   another,  and    meanwhile   the   strength    of 
the  enemy  increased.     For  only  when  the  Pagans  re- 
treated from  the  sea  coast,  then  would  the  fleet  go 
forth.     So  to  the  end  the  fleet  served  no  good  pur- 
pose,  but  did   only   trouble   the   people,   and   bring 
about  the  losing  of  much  money,  and  encourage  the 

enemy." 

Still  the  King's  fleet  and  army  were  not  wholly  idle. 


RAVAGE  OF  CUMBERLAND  AND  MAN.         269 

Though  they  could  not  or  did  not  hinder  the  ravages 
of  the  Danes,  they  were  used  against  the  Celtic  king- 
dom of  Cumberland,  which  for  the  last  fifty  years  had 
been  subordinate  to  Scotland.     In  1000  A.D.,  Ethe  - 
red  "  marched  into  Cumberland,  and  laid  nearly  all 
the  whole  land  waste ;    and   his   fleet   sailing   from 
Chester  sought  to  meet  him,  but  could  not  for  the 
winds.  Therefore  they  laid  waste  the  island  of  Man.   ' 
What  Cumberland  and  Man  had  done  to  bring  down 
upon  them  the  anger  of  the  English  king  is  not  clear. 
As  to  Man,  according  to  one  account,  it  had  been 
harried  by  Sweyn  on  his  last  visit  to  these  islands. 
But  if  this  be  true,  it  only  makes  the  matter  more 
obscure.      Cumberland   is  said   to  have   refused  the 
Danegelt,  or  contribution  for  preparations  against  the 
Danes   or,  as  was  more  commonly  the  case,  buying 
them  off.     As  its  sub-king  owed  whatever  tribute  to 
be  paid  to  an.  overlord  in  Scotland,  he  was  right  in 
refusing  this  claim.    But  it  would  be  rash  to  say  cer- 
tainly that  it  was  ever  made.     The  Saxon  Chronicler 
simply  relates  the  facts  of  the  expedition. 

Still  more  obscure  is  a  story  told  of  an  invasion  of 
Normandy  by  Ethelred's  army  in  the  same  year,  very 
near  the  end  of  the  century.  Why  it  went  there,  and 
what  it  was  expected  to  do,  cannot  be  guessed,  except 
we  suppose  that  the  English  rulers  thought  it  well  to 
aim  a  blow  at  the  Northmen  through  their  kinsmen 
settled  in  France.  The  expedition  ended  in  disaster, 
and  even  disgrace,  though  we  need  not  believe  the 

«  "Man"  may  possibly  mean  Anglesea.     The  name  of  Mom  was 
applied  by  the  Romans  to  both  islands. 


m 


m 


270  ETHELRED   AND   SWEYN.        . 

Story  that  the  English  warriors  were  struck  down  by 
the  Norman  women.     As  for  the  Danes,  they  came 
back  in  the  following  year  in  greater  force  than  ever. 
The  Chronicler  tells  how  there  were  stirred  up  great 
troubles   throughout   the   land   by   the   fleet   of    the 
Pagans,  who  ravaged  everywhere,  and  burned  houses 
with  fire ;  how  they  fought  at  Alton  with  the  men  of 
Hampshire  and  defeated  them,  slaying  many  nobles, 
though  not  without   great  loss  of  their  own  ;    how 
they  marched  from  Alton  westward  into  Devonshire, 
and  were  joined   by  a  certain    Pallig,  to  whom  the 
King  had  given  much  land  and  gold  and  silver,  but 
who  nevertheless  revolted  against  him.  Then  we  hear 
of  Teinton'  and  more  houses   than  the  Chronicler 
can  tell  of  being  burnt.     Then  comes  a  treaty,  which 
seems  of  little  avail,  for  the  Pagans  march  into  Somer- 
setshire, and  there  defeat  an  English  army.    Finally, 
they  go  eastward  again  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and 
make  another  treaty,  which,  as  the  season  for  fight- 
ing was   probably  coming  to  an  end,  they  consent 

to  keep.  .    . 

In  the  next  year  (1002)  comes  a  crisis  in  the  con- 
flict "  In  this  year,"  says  the  Chronicler,  "  it  was 
decreed  by  the  King  and  the  nobles  that  a  tribute 
should  be  paid  to  the  fleet  [of  the  Danes],  and  that 
peace  should  be  made  with  the  Pagans  on  the  con- 
dition that  they  should  cease  from  their  misdoings. 
Then  the  King  sent  Leofig,  who,  according  to  the 
words  of  the  King  and  the  nobles,  made  peace  with 
them,  on  condition  that  they  should  receive  money 

^  Possibly  Teignmouth. 


No.  I.  Egbert. 
5.  Ethelred 


SAXON   PENNIES. 
No.  2.  Ethelwulf.      No.  3.  Ethelbald 

A     Alfrprl. 


No.  4.  i^.thelbright. 
7.  E^auwiiiu  X.  8.  Ethelstan. 

5.x... ^.  "'Vrired  II.  Edwy.  12.  Eadgar. 

9.  Edmund.^  ^^  Eadward  11!  No.  14.  Ethelred  the  Unready. 


6.  Alfred. 


7.  Eadward  I. 
II.  Edwy. 


270  ETHELRED   AND   SWEYN. 

Story  that  the  English  warriors  were  struck  down  by 
the  Norman  women.     As  for  the  Danes,  they  came 
back  in  the  following  year  in  greater  force  than  ever 
The  Chronicler  tells  how  there  were  stirred  up  great 
troubles   throughout   the   land   by   the  fleet   of   the 
Pagans,  who  ravaged  everywhere,  and  burned  houses 
with  fire ;  how  they  fought  at  Alton  with  the  men  of 
Hampshire  and  defeated  them,  slaying  many  nobles, 
though  not  without   great  loss  of  their  own  ;    how 
they  marched  from  Alton  westward  into  Devonshire, 
and  were  joined   by  a  certain    Pallig,  to  whom  the 
King  had  given  much  land  and  gold  and  silver,  but 
who  nevertheless  revolted  against  him.  Then  we  hear 
of  Teinton'  and  more  houses   than  the  Chronicler 
can  tell  of  being  burnt.     Then  comes  a  treaty,  which 
seems  of  little  avail,  for  the  Pagans  march  into  Somer- 
setshire, and  there  defeat  an  English  army.     Finally, 
they  go  eastward  again  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and 
make  another  treaty,  which,  as  the  season  for  fight- 
ing was   probably  coming  to  an  end,  they  consent 

to  keep.  .    . 

In  the  next  year  (1002I  comes  a  crisis  in  the  con- 
flict "  In  this  year,"  says  the  Chronicler,  "  it  was 
decreed  by  the  King  and  the  nobles  that  a  tribute 
should  be  paid  to  the  fleet  [of  the  Danes],  and  that 
peace  should  be  made  with  the  Pagans  on  the  con- 
dition that  they  should  cease  from  their  misdoings. 
Then  the  King  sent  Leofig,  who,  according  to  the 
words  of  the  King  and  the  nobles,  made  peace  with 
them,  on  condition  that  they  should  receive  money 

»  Possibly  Teignmouth. 


Na 


I.  Egbert.  No.  2.  E  helwulf 
5.  Ethelred.  6.  Alfred. 

9.  Edmund.  ^^   .^^-ffi^"^- 

No.  13.  Eadward  11. 


SAXON    PENNIES. 

No.  -i.  Ethelbald.      No.  4-  ^^^thelbright. 
7.  Eadward  I.  8.  Ethelstan. 

II.  Edwy.  12.  Eadgar. 

No.  14.  Ethelred  the  Unready. 


272 


ETHELRED  AND  SWEYN, 


I 


and  food.     To  this  they  consented,  and  there  were 
paid  to  them  twenty-four  thousand  pounds."  ^ 

"  In  the  Lent  of  this  same  year  came  the  daughter 
of  Duke  Richard,  Emma,  into  this  land."     Ethelred's 
first  wife  Elgiva  was  dead,  and  he  found  a  second  in 
the  daughter  of  the  Norman  Duke  Richard,  Emma 
the  "  Jewel "  "  (Gemma)  Normannorum."     He  is  said 
to  have  gone  to  court  her  in  person.     She  is  reported 
to  have  been  as  beautiful  as  Helen  of  Troy,  and  her 
coming  was  as  fatal,  if  not  to  the  nation  to  which  she 
came,   yet   certainly    to   the   house    into    which    she 
married.     She  was  the  first  of  the  Norman  invaders, 
and,  by  her  influence,  exercised  in  the  first  instance 
through  her  two  husbands  ^  and  her  son,  she  paved 
the  way  for  the  host  which  was  to  conquer  England 
some  sixty  years  later. 

Ethelred  now  ventured  on  one  of  those  great 
crimes  which,  however  successful  they  may  seem 
for  the  time,  surely  bring  down  a  fearful  punish- 
ment  on    those   who    commit   them. 3      He   ordered 

'  The  money  raised,  either  to  furnish  resistance  to  the  invaders  or  to 
purchase  their  forbearance,  was  called  "  Dane-money  "  (Danegelt).  It 
seems  to  have  been  a  tax  of  two  shillings  on  every  hide  (or  120  acres)  of 
cultivated  ground.  The  name  is  commonly  said  to  have  been  first 
given  in  991  (see  p.  264).  The  tax  remained,  as  taxes  often  do,  long 
after  the  first  occasion  for  it  had  passed  away.  William  the  Conqueror 
revived  it  in  1083,  and  it  was  not  finally  abolished  till  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.  It  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  matters  in  dispute 
between  that  King  and  Thomas  a  Becket. 

'  After  Ethelred's  death  she  married  Canute.  Her  son  was  Edward 
the  Confessor. 

3  We  may  compare  the  fate  of  Mithradates,  who  in  88  B.C.  ordered 
the  massacre  of  all  the  Roman  citizens  then  residing  in  Asia,  and  the 
disastrous  results  of  the  Sicilian  vespers  (a.d.  1 282),  when  all  the 
French  in  Sicily  were  simultaneously  murdered. 


sr.  brice's  day. 


273 


that  all  the  Danes  throughout  England  should  be 
murdered,  and  his  orders  were  carried  out  on  St 
Brice's  day,  November  13th. 

It   is   very  likely  that  Ethelred  ventured  on  this 
summary  way  of  ridding  himself  of  his  enemies  on 
the   strength  of  his  alliance  with  the  ruler  of  Nor- 
mandy.    It  is  certain   that  he   must  have   had  the 
feeling    of  his   people   with  him,  for   otherwise    his 
orders  would  not  have  been  carried  out  so  thoroughly 
as  they  seem  to  have  been.     The  English  must  have 
been  terribly  irritated  against  the  strangers.      They 
were  heathens  ;    they  had  burnt   the   churches   and 
monasteries,  and  carried  fire  and  sword  and  ravage 
everywhere.     Probably  they  behaved  with  insolence, 
even  when  they  were  not  acting  as  enemies.     The 
Chroniclers  of  later  times  speak  of  the  jealousy  of 
the  English  against  the  foreigners,  who  pleased  the 
native  women  by  their  smart  dress  and  cleanly  habits.^ 
One  great   provocation   there   certainly  was   in   the 
heavy  tax  for  which  their  presence  had  given  occa- 
sion.    Fifty  thousand  pounds  had  been  paid  to  them 
in  the  course  of  eleven  years,  a  bribe  for  a  forbear- 
ance  which  after  all  they  did  not   show ;  and  fifty 
thousand  pounds,  which  would  be  a  very  large  sum 
if  put  into  money  of  our  time,  must  have  been  an 
oppressive  burden  on  a  nation  that  may  be  said  to 
have  had  very  little  trade  or  manufactures. 

It  may  be  supposed  that  the  King  did  not  want  a 
pretext  for  his  act.  He  had  had  information,  he 
declared,  that  the  Danes  had  made  a  plot  to  slay 

'  It  was  especially  alleged  against  the  Danes  that  they  indulged  in  the 
strange  habit  of  bathing. 


\ 


274 


ETHELRED  AND  SWEYN. 


him  and  all  his  nobles,  so  that  they  might  take  pos- 
session of  his  kingdom  without  any  man  resistmg. 
We  have  no  means  oT  judging  whether  there  was  any 
truth  in  the  charge.  The  number  of  victims  is  not 
known  Later  writers  embellished  their  accounts  of 
the  massacre  with  the  description  of  horrible  cruelties 
practised  on  women  and  children-women,  for  the 
most  part,  whom  the  Danes  had  taken  to  wife,  and 
children  who  had  been  born  of  these  marriages.     The 


DANISH   WAR   VESSEL. 

original  authority  simply  says  :  "  This  year  the  King 
ordered  that   all  the  Danes  who   were   in    England 

should  be  slain." 

One  woman,  indeed,  seems  to  have  perished  in 
the  massacre,  and  this  one  brought  about  a  speedy 
punishment  of  the  crime.  Gunhild,  sister  of  King 
Sweyn  of  Denmark,  had  married  the  Pallig  whose 
treachery  to  the  King  has  been  mentioned  earlier  in 
the  chapter.      She  was   now  killed,  declaring,  it   is 


GUNHILd's  prophecy. 


275 


said  with  her  last  breath,  that  her  death  would  bring 
many  wars  upon  England.  The  prophecy  was  soon 
fulfilled,  for  in  the  very  next  year  Sweyn  himself 
came  back,  declaring  that  he  would  revenge  his  sister 
and  his  countrymen. 


\ 


A^Mhf  n.W..JA.t#7JrSb'-.Ul£Alb<tf<4r4   . 


•t^V  .'■•■lahi 


i;ssa&aBaiafe'a^iWiiawft-a>gj>agas^^  i 


XXVI. 

THE  VENGEANCE   FOR  ST.   BRICE'S  DAY. 

SWEYN  was  now  the  most  powerful  prince  of  the 
kingdoms  of  the  Northmen.  Olaf  Tryggvason,  first 
his  ally  and  then  his  enemy,  had  perished  three  years 
before  in  battle  with  him,  and  he  seems  to  have 
formed  plans  of  conquest  such  as  had  not  seemed 
possible  to  any  of  those  who  had  gone  before  him. 
They  had  been  content,  first  with  the  plunder  of 
England,  and  then  with  a  goodly  share  of  its  land. 
He  resolved  to  be  its  king. 

The  murder  of  his  sister  gave  him,  as  has  been 
said,  a  good  pretext  for  action.     His   first   landing 
was' near  Exeter.     And   here  we   have   the   earliest 
of  the  disasters  that  were  to  come  from  the  Norman 
connections    of   the  new    Queen   of   England.     "In 
this  year  Exeter  was  taken  by  the  neglect  of  the 
Norman  Count  Hugh,  whom  the  Queen   had  made 
reeve  of  it  ;  and  the  Pagans  utterly  destroyed  it,  and 
carried  away  much  booty."     If  Queen  Emma  was  to 
blame  for  putting  this  unworthy  favourite  in  a  post 
that  he  was  unfit  to  fill,  it  must  have  been  the  King 
that  put  the  traitor  Elfric  ^  in  command  of  the  English 

*   See  p.  264. 


NORWICH  AND   THETFORD  BURNT.  277 

army  "  There  was  gathered  together  an  exceeding 
great  army  out  of  Wiltshire  and  Hampshire,  and  it 
marched  against  the  Pagans  with  great  singleness  of 
heart.  But  Elfric,  who  should  have  led  it,  showed 
his  ancient  craft.  For  when  the  armies  were  now 
near  together,  so  that  they  could  see  each  other, 
Elfric  made  a  pretence  that  he  was  sick,  vomiting 
and  saying  that  he  suffered  from  some  disease.  Thus 
did  he  betray  the  people  whom  he  should  have  led.' 
The  result  was  that  no  battle  was  fought,  and  that 
Sweyn  was  left  to  ravage  Wiltshire  as  he  pleased. 

The  next  year  we  find  him  on  the  other  side  of 
En-land,  burning  Norwich.     But  this  time  he  was 
not" to  escape  so  easily.     Ulfkytel,  the  East  Anglian 
Alderman,  finding  himself  unprepared,  perhaps  over- 
borne  by  the   nobles   with  whom   he  took  counsel, 
resolved   to    follow    the    fatal    example    which    had 
already  been  set  so  often,  "  to  give  the  money  to 
the  army  of  the  Pagans,  and  so  make  peace  with 
them   before  the  land  suffered  worse  damage.     The 
Danes   took   the   bribe,   and,  as   usual,   broke   their 
promise"     They  marched    southwards   to   Thetford, 
stopped    in    the    town    one    night,    plundered    and 
burnt    it.     "  But    as    they    were    returning   to   their 
ships    Ulfkytel    came    upon    them    with   his    forces. 
Then   did   they  fight    a   fierce   battle,   and   a   great 
slaughter  was  made  on   both   sides.      Many  nobles 
of  the  East   Angles  were   slain.     But  if  the  whole 
army  of  the  English   had   been    there,  the   I  agans 
had    never   returned    to    their   ships;    and    so   they 
themselves   declared.'^     As  it  was,  Sweyn  remained 
for  the  winter  in  England. 


ii*iHfaMWir-  S  ilMiir*  J!<iA«.tMi< 


i 


>l| 


278        THE   VENGEANCE  FOR  ST.   BRICE^S  DAY. 

The  next  year  (1005)  was  a   year   of  peace.     At 
least  we  hear  of  no  Danish  ravages.     Sweyn's  fleet 
went  back  to  Denmark,  driven  away,  it  is  possible, 
by  the  famine,  so  terrible  that  none  remembered  the 
like,    that  there   was  throughout    England.     Shortly 
after  the  midsummer  of  1006  it  returned,  making  for 
the  port  of  Sandwich.     "  And  the  Pagans  did  as  they 
were  wont,  for  they  plundered,  and  burnt,  and  slew  all 
that  came  in  their  way.*'     These  ravages  stirred  up 
King  Ethelred  to   levy  an  army  against  them  ;  but 
the  army,  says  the  Chronicler,  "  was  of  as  little  profit 
as    it   had    been   many   times    before."      In    the  late 
autumn  the  Danes  made  their  way,  unmolested  and 
with  all  their  booty,  to  their  winter  quarters  in    the 
Isle  of  Wight.     Finding  their  stores  run  short,  they 
crossed  to  the  mainland  about  Christmas  time,  and 
ravaged  Hampshire  and  Berkshire,  till  they  reached 
the  Thames  at  Reading      Marching  up  the  valley  of 
the   river  they  came  to  Wallingford  and  utterly  de- 
stroyed it.     From  Wallingford  they  turned  westward 
to  Wantage  and    Farnborough.     Near  Farn borough 
rises  the  range  of  the  Illsley   Downs.       To  one   of 
the    heights,    now    called    Cuckamsley    Hill,    there 
attached   the  prophecy  that   the   Danes  who  should 
climb   it   should    never   see   the    sea    again.       The 
invaders   ventured   to   defy  it,  and   escaped  unhurt. 
They  climbed  the   height,  and   then    turned    home- 
wards   through    East   Wiltshire.       At   Marlborough 
they  were  intercepted  by  an  English  army.     It  fared 
as  ill  as  English  armies  commonly  did  in  this  most 
unlucky   reign.     "  It   was  straightway   put  to  flight, 
and  the  Pagans  carried  off  their  booty  to  the  sea.'* 


BUYING   OFF   THE   PAGANS, 


279 


The   Chronicler  is  particularly  contemptuous  of  the 
behaviour  of  the  men  of  Winchester,  whom  he  calls 
"a   cowardly   and    dishonourable    herd."      Ethelred, 
meanwhile,  was  keeping  Christmas  in  Shropshire  at 
a  safe  distance  from  the  scene  of  war.     Something, 
however,   had  to  be  done  ;    county   after  county   of 
Wessex  itself  was  being  ravaged  by  the  invaders,  and 
even  the  remote  Shropshire  would  not  long  be  safe. 
Nothing  better   could    be   thought   of  by  the   King 
''  lacking  of  council  " '  and  his  nobles  after  frequent 
consultations  than  the  old   device,  so  often  tried  in 
vain  before,  of  buying  off*  the  enemy.     "  The   King 
.  and  his  nobles   resolved    that  for  the  benefit  of  the 
whole  realm,  they  should  pay  tribute  to  the  Pagans, 
though  indeed  they  did  it  most  unwillingly."  Another 
treaty  was  made.     The  money  had  to  be  raised.    Till 
this  was  done  the  Danes  were  fed.     Early  in  the  next 
year  the  ransom  was  ready,  thirty  thousand  pounds, 
according  to  some  accounts  thirty-six  thousand.     The 
money  seems  to  have  purchased  a  short  respite.     For 
that  year  and  the  two  that  followed  it  we   hear  no 

more  of  the  Danes. 

The  only  entry  which  the  Chronicler  makes  under 
the  year  1007,  besides  the  payment  of  the  tribute,  is 
that  "  Edric  was  made  Alderman  of  Mercia,"  adding 
nothing  about  him  good  or  bad.  But  Edric  was  a 
notable  person,  and  one  who  seems  to  have  done 
much  mischief.  Many  thought  that  he  was  the 
suggester  of  the  massacre  of  St.  Brice's  day.  Florence 
of  Worcester  speaks  of  him  as  "a  man  of  humble  birth, 
whose  tongue  had  won  for  him  riches  and  rank,  oi 

»  This  is  the  meaning  of  "  Unready." 


II  fi 


280       THE    VENGEANCE   FOR   ST.   BRICE'S  DAY. 

great  craft  and  persuasive  eloquence,  who  surpassed 
all  the  men  of  his  time  in  jealousy  of  others  and 
treachery,  and  no  less  in  pride  and  cruelty."  Accord- 
ing to  the  pithy  words  of  another  chronicler  ^  he  was 
made  by  the  overruling  of  God  for  the  ruin  of  the 
English  chief  of  Mercia.  He  seems  to  have  married 
one  of  Ethelred's  daughters,  at  or  about  the  date  of 
his  elevation  to  the  Aldermanship,  and  was  for 
some  time  to  come  a  thoroughly  bad  influence  in 
the  councils  of  the  kingdom. 

In  1008  a  serious  effort  was  made  to  make  provision 
for  the  safety  of  England  during  the  interval  of  peace. 
"  The  King  commanded  that  ships  should  be  made 
with   all    speed    throughout   the    land   of   England." 
One  ship  of  war  was  to  be  furnished  by  every  three 
hundred  and  ten  hides  of  land.     Every  eight  hides 
were  to  supply  in  addition  a  helmet  and  a  breastplate. 
The  fleet  was  built,  but  it  proved  as  useless  as  all  the 
other  attempts  of  the    Unready  King.     There  were, 
indeed,  more  ships  than  had  ever  before  been  seen  in 
England  in  the   days   of  any   king  ;  and  they  must 
have  made  a  goodly  show  when  they  were  assembled 
at  Sandwich  to  guard  the  coast  against  the  heathen 
invaders.      But   they   did  absolutely  nothing.      One 
Britric,  a  brother  of  the  favourite  Edric,  accused  to 
the  King  a  certain  Wulfnoth,^  who  held  some  office  of 
trust  in  Sussex.  Wulfnoth  fled  and  took  some  twenty 
ships  with  him.     Naturally  he  had  no  other  means  of 
supporting  himself  and  his  followers  besides  piracy, 

'  Henry  of  Huntingdon. 

'  Wulfnoth  is  described  by  the  Chronicler  as  the  "  father  of  Count 
Godwin,"  a  person  of  whom,  and  of  whose  family,  we  shall  hear  much 
hereafter. 


HAMPSHIRE   AND   BERKSHIRE   RAVAGED,      281 

and  to  this  he  seems  to  have  taken  at  once, "  plunder- 
ing  all  the  south  coast,  and    doing    much    damage. 
Britric  pursued  him  with  eighty  ships,  hoping  to  take 
him  dead  or  alive.     But  a  storm,  '^  such  as  had  never 
been  known,"  drove  the  ships  ashore,  and  Wulfnoth, 
who  seems  to  have  been  safe  in  harbour  while  it  raged 
came  upon  them  and  burnt  them.     For  what  followed 
it   is  impossible  to  account.     One  might  think  that 
there  was  an  evil  spell  over  everything  that  Ethelred 
undertook.      "The    King    returned    home   with   his 
nobles  and  chiefs,  leaving  for   so   light   a  cause   his 
ships   and   people ;  and   the   men   that  were  in  the 
ships   rowed    them    to   London.      So   they   suff^ered 
all   the   labour    of    the   nation    to    be    so    speedily 
wasted,  nor  was  the  terror  of  the  land  in  any  ways 

diminished."  .        , 

Of  course  the  Danes  were  as   ready  to   seize  the 
opportunity   as  Ethelr'ed   was  unready.     No   sooner 
was  the  English  fleet  dispersed  than  they  came  with 
ships   without   number   to   Sandwich.       Canterbury 
purchased  safety,  probably  with  some  of  the  wealth 
of  St.  Augustine's  foundation  ;  and  the  men  of  East 
Kent  gave  three  thousand  pounds  to  get  rid  of  the 
enemy      They  sailed  westward,  and  landing  on  the 
Hampshire  coast,  plundered  and   burnt  that   county 
and   Berkshire.     The  King  raised  an  army  and^  cut 
off  their  retreat.     But  Edric  did  what  Elfin  had  done 
ten  years  before.      "  AH  the   people   were  ready  to 
attack  them,   but  Edric  hindered  them,   as  he   ever 

did."  ,    ,   .        •  1. 

Late  in  the   autumn  the   Danes  settled  in  winter 

quarters   near  the   mouth  of   the  Thames.      They 


•282        THE   VENGEANCE   FOR   ST.   BRICE'S  DAY. 

found  supplies  in  the  neighbouring  districts.     London 
was   more  than  once  attacked  by  them,  but  always 
without  success.    -  There,"  says  the  Chronicler,  "  they 
were  always  ill  received."     With  the  beginning  of  the 
year  they  moved  out  of  their  quarters,  marched  past 
London,  and  ravaged  the  whole  valley  of  the  Thames 
as  far  as  Oxford  (which  town  they  burnt).     An  army 
had   been   collected   at    London   to   intercept    their 
return,  but  they  avoided  it  by  leaving  the  Thames  at 
Staines,  marching  southward  through  Surrey,  and  so 
got  back  with  their  plunder  to  their  ships  in  Kent. 

The  next  year  (loio)  was  one  of  continuous  disas- 
ter, but  it  at  least  began   with  a  gallant  attempt  at 
resistance       The  Danes   landed    near   Ipswich,  and 
found  Ulfkytel,  the  hero  of  the  victory  of  six  years 
before,   waiting   for  them.        "The    East   Anglians 
straightway  fled,  but  the  men  of  Cambridge  bravely 
stood  their  ground."     A  long  list  of  English  nobles, 
headed  by   one   Athelstan,  son-in-law  to   the    King, 
follows,   as   having   been  slain    in   the   fight.     Then 
follows  the  important  fact  :  "  The  flight  was   begun 
by  Thurkytel  "  The  name  indicates  Danish  descent  ; 
and  this  may  have  had    something   to   do   with  the 
man's  treachery  ;  but  Ulfkytel,  too,  must  have  been 
an  Anglo-Dane  ;   so  that  men  of  the   mixed   blood 
could  be  faithful    to  the  land  of  their  birth.     After 
this    defeat    all    resistance    ceased.       "The    Pagans 
possessed  all    East   Anglia,  and    ravaged    it  for   the 
space  of  three  months.       They   went    into  the  far 
country,  and  slew  both  men  and  cattle.     And   they 
burnt  both   Thetford  and  Cambridge."     Oxfordshire 
and  Buckinghamshire,    Hertfordshire    and    Bedford- 


DEMORALISED   STATE   OF   THE   COUNTRY,      283 

shire  were  ravaged,  and  all,  it  would  seem,  without 
any  eff'ort  to  resist.     The  Chronicler  is  very  sarcastic 
on   the  futility   of  the  English   rulers  :    "  When  the 
Pagans  were  in  the  east,  then  the  King's  forces  were 
kept  in  the  west  ;  and  when  they  were  in  the  southern 
region,  our  armies  were  in  the  northern."     At  last  a 
council  was  called,  but  for  all  the  good  it  did,  it  might 
never  have  been  held.     All  spirit  seems  to  have  been 
driven  out  of  the  men  who  should  have  stood  forth  to 
defend  their  country.     "  No  governor  was  willing  to 
gather  his  men  together  ;  neither  did  any  county  help 

another." 

In  ion  we  have  another  return  to  the  miserable 
system   of  buying   off"  the   enemy.     And  even   this 
wretched  plan,  the  Chronicler  complains,  was  always 
resorted  to  too  late.     It  was  after  they  had  ravaged 
everything,  not  before,  that  the  money  was  offered  to 
them.     Things,  indeed,  were  in  a  desperate  state.     A 
dismal  list  is  given  of  the  regions  which  the  invaders 
held  in  undisputed  possession.    They  had  East  Anglia 
and  Essex  and  Middlesex,  Oxfordshire,  Cambridge- 
shire, Hertfordshire,  Buckinghamshire,  Bedfordshire, 
and  half  of  Huntingdonshire.     On  the  south  side  of 
the  Thames  they  had  all  Kent  and  Sussex,  and  Surrey 
and  Berkshire,  and  a  great  part  of  Wiltshire.     And 
now  happened  one  of  the  great  tragedies  that  have 
made  their  mark  on  the  hearts  of  Englishmen. 

In  the  late  summer  the  Danes  approached  Canter- 
bury It  was  either  too  poor  to  purchase  their  for- 
bearance, as  it  had  done  three  years  before,  or  the 
Archbishop  Alphage,  a  man  of  resolute  temper,  was 
unwilling  to  submit  again  to  such  a  disgrace.     Any- 


tg^ia^^iaiu^M 


#1 


284       THE   VENGEANCE   FOR   ST.   BRICE'S  DAY. 

how,  the  gates  were  closed,  and  the  city  prepared  to 
stand  a  siege.    But  treachery  was  at  work  here  as  else- 
where.    This  time  it  was  an  ecclesiastic,  one  Elfmer, 
who  had  received  some  great  kindness  from  the  Arch- 
bishop, that  played  the  part  of  a  traitor.      A  vast 
number  of  prisoners  was  taken—"  how  many,"  says 
the  Chronicler,  "  cannot  be  told."     When  they  had 
plundered  the  city  at  their  pleasure,  the  Danes  re- 
turned  to   their   ships,  taking  the  Archbishop  with 
them.     They  kept  their  prisoner  till  the  Easter  of  the 
next  year,  expecting  to  get  a  large  ransom  for  him 
The  Chronicler  says  nothing  of  his  having  made  any 
promise  that  this  ransom  should  be  paid.     Later  ac- 
counts  tell  us  that  such  promise  was  made,  and  that 
the  Archbishop  refused  to  keep  it,  declaring  that  he  had 
sinned  in  making  it,  and  that  he  would  not  rob  his 
countrymen  to  purchase  his  freedom  or  his  life.     The 
Danes  were  furious  at  their  disappointment.     He  was 
brought  before  a  council  of  nobles  on  the  Saturday  in 
Easter  week.     The  council  seems  to  have  been  held 
after  a  feast,  and  the  Danes  were  excited  with  wine, 
of  which  they  had  just  received  a  bountiful  supply 
from  France.     They   pelted   the  Archbishop   as  he 
stood  before  them  with  a  shower  of  bones  and  bul- 
locks' horns.     At  last  one  of  them,  a  Dane  whom  he 
had  himself  converted  and  confirmed,  put  an  end  to 
his  sufferings  by  cleaving  his  head  with  an  axe.     His 
body  was  given  up  to  his  countrymen,  and  buried  by 
them  with  great  state  in  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Paul's  in 
London.    The  title  of  martyr  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  his  contemporaries,  and  has  remained  attached  to 
his  name  down  to  this  day.     The  day  of  his  death, 


FORTY-EIGHT   THOUSAND    POUNDS  RANSOM.     285 

April  19th,  is  still  marked  by  his  name  in  the  Calendar 
of  the  Anglican  Church. 

Shortly  after  the  murder  of  the  Archbishop,  the 
ransom  for  England,  forty-eight  thousand  pounds,  was 
paid      The  money  was  wasted,  like  all  that  had  been 
spent  in  the  same  wav  before.    But  what  we  may  call 
a  really  valuable  purchase  was  made  at  the  same  time. 
Amona  the  chiefs  of  the  Danish  fleet  was  one  Thorkill, 
who  seems  to  have  been  better  than  some  of  his  fellows. 
He  had  endeavoured  to  save  the  Archbishop's  life 
offering  all  that  he  had,  except  his  ship,  by  way  of 
ransom      This  Thorkill  now  took  service  with  Ethel- 
red  and  brought  with  him  five-and-forty  ships,  a  force 
which  was  soon  to  be  nearly  all  that  was  left  to  the 

English  king. 

And  now  Sweyn  himself  again  appears  upon  the 
scene     William  of  Malmesbury  speaks  of  his  having 
been  invited  over  by  Thorkill.     But  the  truth  is  that 
he  needed  no  invitation,  and,  if  he  had,  Thorkill,  who 
resolutely  opposed  him  when  he  came,  was  not  the 
man  to  give  it.     He  had   probably  been  biding  his 
time,  till  he  saw  England  in  the  last  stage  of  exhaus- 
tion,  and  now  came  to  take  possession  of  what  was 
virtually  a  conquered  country.     If  Thorkill  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  his  coming,  it  was  by  proving  to  him 
the  necessity  of  acting  before  a  rival  of  his  own  race 
became  formidably  strong. 

Some  time  in  1013^  Sweyn  sailed  to  England. 
One  of  the  writers  of  the  next  generation  gives  a 
gorgeous  description  of  his  fleet.      The  beaks  of  the 

X  One  account  says,  "  in  the  spring."  The  Chronicler  has,  -  before 
the  month  of  August.'' 


itfjMBBiarfS 


286        THE    VENGEANCE   FOR   ST.    BRICE'S   DAY. 

ships  were  of  brass,  the  sterns  adorned  with  lions  of 
gold.     On, the  mastheads  were  shapes  of  birds  and 
dragons  for  weather-cocks.     Figures  of  men,  of  bulls, 
of  dolphins  were  to  be  seen  as  figure-heads.     Sweyn 
had  with  him  his  younger  son  Canute  and  that  warrior- 
saint,  Olaf  of  Norway,  whom  he  probably  brought  with 
him  because  he  was  unwilling  to  leave  him  behind. 
The  fleet  touched  at  Sandwich,  but  then,  by  a  change 
of  policy  in  the  Danish  king,  sailed  northwards  to  the 
Humber.      From  the   Humber   he   turned    into   the 
Trent,  and  proceeded  up  that  river  as  far  as  Gains- 
borough.    Here  Uhtred,  Alderman  of  Northumber- 
land, gave  in  his  adhesion.   The  example  was  followed 
by  the  Five  Burghs,  and,  indeed,  by  all  England  to 
the  north  of  Watling  Street.     Once  more  the  Dane- 
law was  separated  from  England,  and  the  work  of  the 
successors  of  Alfred  was   undone.      Hostages  were 
given  by  the  principal  towns,  and  these,  together  with 
the  fleet,  were  given  over  to  the  care  of  the  young 
Canute.     Meanwhile  the  King  pursued  his  conquests. 
"  Never   did   army,"  says  the  Chronicler,  "  do  more 
damage  than  his."      Oxford  submitted   to  him,  and 
gave   hostages  ;    Winchester   did    the    same.      From 
Winchester   he    marched    eastward   to  London,  and 
there   for    the    first    time   he    met    with    resistance. 
"The  citizens  would    not  surrender   themselves,  but 
fought  fiercely  against  him,  having  with  them  King 
Ethelred  and  Thorkill."     The  valiant  Londoners  once 
more  held  their  own,  and   Sweyn  retreated    up  the 
valley  of  the  Thames  as  far  as  Wallingford,  and  thence 
again  to  Bath.     At  Bath  all  the  nobles  of  the  West 
came  in  and  submitted  themselves.   From  Bath  Sweyn 


SWEYN    VIRTUALLY  KING   OF  ENGLAND.       287 

went  northwards  to  his  fleet,  "  and  all  the  nation  ac- 
knowledged him  for  their  true  king,"   London  itself 
feeling   constrained    to    follow   the    example.      The 
citizens  had  to  find   hostages,  and  also   to   provide 
for  the  Danes.     At  the  same  time  Thorkill  was  de- 
manding  supplies  of  war ;  for  his  fleet,  which  lay  at 
Greenwich,  was  still  faithful  to  the  English  king.       ^ 
Before  long,  Ethelred  gave  up  the  struggle.     His 
Queen  Emma  had   already  crossed   the   sea  to  her 
brother,  Richard  of  Normandy,  taking  with  her  her 
two  sons.     The  King  kept  his  Christmas  in  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  where  he  was  safe  under  the  protection  ot 
his  Danish  mercenaries,  and  then  crossed  the  sea  to 

Normandy.  -o  ,.  v 

Sweyn  was  now  virtually  King  of  England.    But  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  was  ever  formally  crowned. 
Indeed    he  died   but  a  few  weeks   after   Ethelred  s 
departure.      "  He    died,"    says    the   Chronicler,^  "  on 
Candlemas."  ^   Later  accounts  embellished  this  simple 
mention  of  his  death  with  some  wonderful  details. 
The  King,  according  to  them,  had  demanded  a  vast 
ransom  from  the  town  of  St.  Edmundsbury,  under  a 
threat  of  destroying  town  and  abbey,  and  slaughter- 
ing  all  the  inhabitants  of  both.     He  repeated  these 
threats  to  the  envoys  of  the  town  in  an  assembly  held 
at  Gainsborough.    But  when  he  had  uttered  them  the 
holy  saint   and   martyr.  King  Edmund,  approached 
him,  visible  only  to  Sweyn,  and  ran  him  through  with 
his  spear.     The  next  day  he  expired  in  agony.     Ac- 
cording to  another  narrative,  he  named  Canute  as  his 
successor,  bade  him  study  the  doctrines  of  Christianity, 

»  February  2nd. 


I 


I 


-    I 


'jaVtf-  »'<•  t«-..- 


*»  t.j.>.  ■>  v.-.-aj  >  "  *.^>  ■»»iji.i.'jaaiaii&gtajiih4saft8ai!t 


288        THE   VENGEANCE  FOR   ST.   BRICE'S  DAY. 

and  strictly  enjoined  on  him  to  carry  away  his  body 
for  burial  in  his  native  land.  _ 

The  Danish  fleet  gladly  accepted  the  succession  of 
the  young  Canute.'     But  he  was  not  to  become  King 
of  England  without  a  long  and  fierce  struggle      The 
bishops  and  nobles  met  in  assembly,  and  resolved  to 
clll  Ithelred  back  to  his  throne.    "  No  lord,    they 
said   in  the  letter  they  sent  to  him.  "  was  dearer  to 
hem  than  their  natural  lord,  if  only  he  would  govern 
them  more  righteously  than  he  had  hitherto  done 
Ethelred's  answer,  sent  by  his  son  Edward    was  a 
greeting  to  his  people,  a  promise  that  he  would  be  a 
Shful  lord  to  Shem.  would  amend  all  that  had  been 
done  amiss,  and  pardon  all  that  had  been  done  or  sa.d 
against  him.    This  message  he  followed  up  by  return- 
incT  to  England  in  the  early  spring. 

Canutel^mained  at  Gainsborough  till  Easter,  occu- 
pying his  troops  with   the  usual  plundering  of  the 
country.     Apparently  he  was  not  P-Pa-d   for^J^ 
vigorous  action  of  Ethelred.  who  came  with  a  strong 
force  into  Lindsey,  the  Gainsborough  district  of  Lin- 
colnshire.    Anyhow  he  did  not  hold  his  ground,  but 
sailed  southward  to  Sandwich,  leaving  the  unhappy 
Anglo-Danes  of  Lindsey  to  be  wasted  with  fire  and 
sword  by  the  English  king.      Canute  <-evenged  him- 
self  for  the  attack  made  on  him  by  mutilating  the 
hostages  whom  the  English  towns  had  put  into  his 

^^But  with  counsellors  such  as  Edric  near  the  throne 
nothing  was  likely  to  prosper.  An  assembly  was  held 
early  in  the  year  at  Oxford.     Among  the  nobles  who 

»  He  must  have  been  about  eighteen  years  of  age. 


CANUTE  RAVAGES  THE   WEST  COUNTRY.      289 

attended  it  were  two  Anglo-Danes,  Morcar  and 
Sigferth,  from  Northumbria.  Edric  murdered  them, 
and  ordered  the  tower  of  the  cathedral,  in  which  their 
attendants  took  refuge,  to  be  set  on  fire.  Their 
possessions  were  seized  by  Edmund.'  one  of  the 
king's  sons,  who  also  married  Aldgyth,  widow  of 
Sigferth,  taking  her  from  the  custody  of  the  Abbot 
of  Malmesbury,  to  which  she  had  been  committed  by 

the  king's  order. 

Canute,  who  had  sailed  to  Denmark,  after  his  ven- 
geance on  the  hostages,  had  come  back  with  a  great 
fleet    as  numerous  and  as   splendidly   equipped   as 
that'which  his  father  had  brought  with  him  two  years 
before.     He  had  now  been  joined  by  Thorkill.  who, 
for  some  reason  which  we  do  not  know,  had  deserted 
Ethelred.    The  Danish  fleet  touched   at  Sandwich, 
then  sailing  along  the  South  Coast,  disembarked  the 
army  that  it  carried  at  Poole,  in  Dorsetshire.     The 
invaders  ravaged  Dorsetshire,  Wiltshire,  and  Somerset- 
shire.    Ethelred  was  lying  sick  at  Cosham  in  Wilt- 
shire but  Edmund  and  Edric  were  in  the  field-each 
at  the  head  of  an  army.    When  united   they   must 
have  made  a  formidable  force,  but  treachery  as  usual 
interfered  to  prevent  any  good  result.     "  Edric  sought 
to  lead  the  Atheling "  astray,  but  could  not.    Then 
they  departed  from  each  other  without  giving  battle, 
and  yielded  the  field  to  their  enemies.     Edric  also 
drew  over  to  himself  forty  ships  from  the  King's  fleet, 
and  submitted   himself   to    Canute."      This  act  of 

«  Afterwards  called  "  Ironsides.*' 
»  The  English  ecjuiv^knt  for  prince. 


I 


t/^Aj'tJ.'uMi  .>.'JftJ'J8Ufa--M6.-ava)!i»fr.i:al^Brif>i3f/jii6teBa?!  ii».-VJB!!at>A<l«rtgiaa»t»i 


I 
% 


290     THK   VENGEANCE  FOR  ST.  BRICE'S  DAY. 

treason  was  the  signal  for  the  submission  of  a  large 
part  of  Western  England  to  the  Danish  king. 

In  the  following  year  (1016)  the  gallant  Edmund 
was  again  baffled  in  his  efforts  to  resist  the  progress 
of  the  Danish  power.  Canute  opened  the  campaign 
by  ravaging  the  Midlands;  Edmund  gathered  an 
army  to  meet  him  ;  but  he  could  get  no  support. 
Ethelred,  who  was  at  London,  was  deterred  from 
joining  him  with  such  forces  as  he  could  raise  in  that 
city  by  rumours  of  treachery,  and  Edmund  was  com- 
pelled to  disband  his  own  army.  Then  he  raised 
fresh  forces  ;  this  time  by  the  help  of  his  wife's  brother, 
Utred  of  Northumbria.  But  Utred '  deserted  him, 
on  the  approach  of  Canute,  to  whom  he  gave  in  his 

submission. 

Nothincr  but  London,  where  Ethelred  still  found 
shelter,  remained  to  the  house  of  Alfred.  Edmund 
hastened  to  join  him  there,  and  Canute  also,  who  had 
gone  southwards  to  Poole,  after  the  settlement  of 
Northumbria,  set  sail  with  the  intention  of  attacking 
the  city.  He  had  not  reached  it  when  Ethelred,  who 
had  long  been  suffering  from  sickness,  died  (April 

^^England  had  now  two  kings.  Canute  was  crowned 
by  command  of  an  assembly  which  met  at  South- 
ampton ;  another  which  was  gathered  in  London 
gave  the  crown  to  Edmund. 

Canute  at  once  proceeded  to  claim  his  kingdom. 
He  sailed  up  the  Thames,  and  laid  siege  to  London 
with  a  fleet  that  numbered,  it  was  said,  three  hundred 

«  Utred  was  put  to  death  by  Canute  at  the  instigation  of  Edric,  who 
succeeded  to  his  earldom  of  Northumbria. 


A  SUCCESSION  OF  FIERCE  BATTLES.  29I 

and  forty  sail.  He  could  not  pass  the  bridge  which 
then  spanned  the  river,  probably  at  the  same  place 
where  London  Bridge  now  stands.  He  then  made  a 
great  ditch,  on  the  southern  bank,  drew  nine  of  his 
ships  through  it,  and  then  got  command  of  the 
upper  river.  The  city,  however,  still  held  out,  and 
an  assault  made  on  the  walls  was  repulsed  with  great 
loss  by  the  citizens.     Not  long  afterwards,  Canute 


OLD   LONDON    BRIDGE. 

(Earliest  inown  represenlation,  lUh  CeiUury.) 

raised  the  siege  and  marched  westwards  to  encounter 
his  rival ;  a  succession  of  fierce  battles  followed. 

Edmund  won  a  victory  over  a  small  Danish  force 
near   GiUingham,   in    Dorsetshire.      Then    he    met 
Canute  him'self  at  Sherston.^  ^^^'f^^  "f  ^s 
his   best   men  in   the  front  rank,  and  kept  the  rest 

.  Possibly  the  Sherston  near  Malmesbury,  but  the  identification  of  the 
place  is  doubtful. 


■■,V--f  ^■^Jl^:Ji>^^aa=^i!^.  •~,£tt 


290     THE    VENGEANCE  FOR   ST.  BRICE'S  DAY. 

treason  was  the  signal  for  the  submission  of  a  large 
part  of  Western  England  to  the  Danish  king. 

In  the  following  year  (1016)  the  gallant  Edmund 
was  again  baffled  in  his  efforts  to  resist  the  progress 
of  the  Danish  power.  Canute  opened  the  campaign 
by  ravaging  the  Midlands;  Edmund  gathered  an 
army  to  meet  him  ;  but  he  could  get  no  support. 
Ethelred,  who  was  at  London,  was  deterred  from 
joining  him  with  such  forces  as  he  could  raise  in  that 
city  by  rumours  of  treachery,  and  Edmund  was  com- 
pelled to  disband  his  own  army.  Then  he  raised 
fresh  forces  ;  this  time  by  the  help  of  his  wife's  brother, 
Utred  of  Northumbria.  But  Utred  '  deserted  him, 
on  the  approach  of  Canute,  to  whom  he  gave  in  his 

submission. 

Nothing  but  London,  wiiere  Ethelred  still  found 
shelter,  remained  to  the  house  of  Alfred.  Edmund 
hastened  to  join  him  there,  and  Canute  also,  who  had 
gone  southwards  to  Poole,  after  the  settlement  of 
Northumbria,  set  sail  with  the  intention  of  attacking 
the  city.  He  had  not  reached  it  when  Ethelred,  who 
had  long  been  suffering  from  sickness,  died  (April 

England  had  now  two  kings.  Canute  was  crowned 
by  command  of  an  assembly  which  met  at  South- 
ampton ;  another  which  was  gathered  in  London 
gave  the  crown  to  Edmund. 

Canute  at  once  proceeded  to  claim  his  kingdom. 
He  sailed  up  the  Thames,  and  laid  siege  to  London 
with  a  fleet  that  numbered,  it  was  said,  three  hundred 

«  Utred  was  put  to  death  by  Canute  at  the  instigation  of  Edric.  who 
succeeded  to  his  earldom  of  Northumbria. 


A   SUCCESSION  OF  FIERCE  BATTLES.  29I 

and  forty  sail.  He  could  not  pass  the  bridge  which 
then  spanned  the  river,  probably  at  the  same  place 
where  London  Bridge  now  stands.  He  then  made  a 
great  ditch,  on  the  southern  bank,  drew  nine  of  his 
ships  through  it,  and  then  got  command  of  the 
upper  river.  The  city,  however,  still  he  d  out,  and 
an  assault  made  on  the  walls  was  repulsed  with  great 
loss  by  the  citizens.     Not  long  afterwards,  Canute 


OLD   LONDON    BRIDGE. 

(Ear/;esi  hman  representation,  I  Uh  Century.-) 

raised  the  siege  and  marched  westwards  to  encounter 
his  rival ;  a  succession  of  fierce  battles  followed. 

Edmund  won  a  victory  over  a  small  Danish  force 
near    Gillingham,   in    Dorsetshire.       Then    he    met 
Canute  him'se.f  at  Sherston.-  in  Wiltshire.     He  pu 
his   best   men  in   the  front  rank,  and  kept  the  rest 

.  Possibly  the  Sherston  near  Malmesbury,  but  the  identification  of  the 
place  is  doubtful. 


ri 


y.  ■  i5 


!l|i 


292     THE   VENGEANCE  FOR  ST.  BRICE'S  DAY. 

for  a  reserve.      After   exhorting  them  to  do  their 
best  for  country  and  home,  he  gave  the  s, gnat  for 
battle      Edmund  himself  was  everywhere,  d.rectmg 
as"  general  and  fighting  as  a  soldie.    The  enemy 
with  whom  were  ranged  the  men  of  Hampshire  and 
Wiltshire  under  Edric,  were  too  strong  to  be  repulsed 
and  the  battle  was  undecided.     It  was  renevved  next 
dav        Edmund  made  a   gallant  attempt   to  stnke 
down   Canute   himself.      He  succeeded   in   cleaving 
his  rival's  shield,  and  in  woundmg  his  horse.     Over- 
powering  numbers   then   forced   him   to   retire      It 
was  then,   according  to  the  narrative  of  the  battle, 
that  the  traitor.  Edric,  holding  up  the  head  of  one 
Osmar,  who  was  strangely  like  to  Edmund,  cried  out 
to  the  men  of  Dorset  and  Devon,  that  their  king  was 
slain    and   bade   them   submit.     Edmund,   however, 
showed  himself  to  his  troops,  and  stopped  the  panic. 
The  second  day  left  the  battle  still  undecided,  but 
Canute  broke  up  his  camp  that  night,  and  returned 
to  London.     To  London  Edmund  followed  him,  and 
succeeded  in  raising  the  siege  of  that  city      He  won 
another  victory  over  the  Danes  at  Brentford.     Then 
something  drew  him  off  to  the  West.     He  returned, 
and  again  vanquished  the  enemy  at  Otford,  in  Kent, 
and   so,   says    the   Chronicler,   would    have    utterly 
destroyed  them,  but  that  Edric  kept  him  at  Eglesford. 
What  means  he  used  we  do  not  know,  and  cannot 
guess.     The  Chroniclers  seem  to  have  attributed  all 
failures  and  reverses  to  this  malignant  influence. 

The  last  and  greatest  battle  of  the  war  was  fought 
at  Aslingdon,  in  South-eastern  Essex.  Edmund 
drew  up  his  force  in  three  lines,  and  at  first  stood  on 


THE  BATTLE  OP  ASLINGDON. 


293 


the  defensive.    But  Canute,  though  urged  by  Thorkill 
to  attack,  was  too  cautious  to  do  so.    When  he  began 
to  move,  it  was  seemingly  to  make  his  way  to  his 
ships,  the  very  thing  which    Edmund  was  eager  to 
prevent     When  he  saw  this,  therefore,  he  gave  the 
signal  for  battle,  and  charged  down  the  hill  upon  the 
enemy     He  led  the  attack  himself,  and  charged  the 
enemy,  sword  in  hand,  like  a  thunderbolt,  as  one  of 
the  Chroniclers  expresses  it.    The  Danes  began  to 
give  ground  before  this  furious  onset,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  a  really  decisive  victory  might  be  won.     Then 
the  bad  genius  of  England  intervened.     "  Edric  took 
flicTht  with  the  men  of  Herefordshire,  and  betrayed 
his  natural  lord  and  the  whole  English  people       It 
is  an  inexDlicable  mystery  how  the  traitor  was  fighting 
on  the  English  side,  and,  it  would  seem,  in  high  com- 
mand.    The  English  still  held  out,  but  it  was  with  a 
weakened  and  broken  line.     The  battle  was  not  ended 
by  darkness.   When  the  moon  rose  English  and  Danes 
were  still  engaged  in  the  struggle.     At  last  victory 
plainly  declared  for   the   invaders,  and  the  English 
fled  in  all  directions,  Edmund  himself  hastening  froni 
the  field.     Some  of  the   noblest   chiefs   of  England 
fell  on  that  fatal  day,  among  them  Ulfkytel,  the  brave 
East  Anglian  whom  we  have  seen  twice  doing  battle 
with  the  Danes.     Great  Churchmen,  too,  were  slain 
on  the  field  of  battle,  the  Bishop  of  Dorchester,  and 
Wulfrig,  Abbot  of  Ramsey,  among  them. 

Edmund  was  still  unvanquished.  He  raised  another 
army,  and  prepared  to  fight  again  for  his  throne  But 
the  nobles  were  weary  of  battle,  and  persuaded  him  to 
make  peace.     The  two  kings  met  on  a  little  island  m 


294     THE   VmGEANCB  FOR   ST.  BRICE's  DAY. 

the  Severn,  and  there  agreed  to  a   partition  of  the 
kingdom,  Edmund   was  to  have   Southern,  Canute 

Northern  England. 

It   was   but  for   a  short   time   that   this  partition 
remained  in  force.    On  St.  Andrew's  Day  (Nov  30th). 
Edmund  Ironsides  died.     The  cause  of  death  is  un- 
certain.    He  had  done  enough  in  the  last  few  months 
of  his  life  to  exhaust  the  powers  even  of  a  healthy 
man,  and  we  know  that  the  princes  of  his  house  were 
not  healthv.     Of  course  his  death  was  attributed  to 
violence  ;  equally  of  course  Edric  was  named  as  the 
murderer.     He  was  buried  at  Glastonbury  by  the  side 
of  his  grandfather,  Edgar  the  Peaceable. 


XXVII. 


CANUTE. 


IT  is  impossible  to  say  what  were  really  the  terms 
of  the  treaty  by  which  England  was  divided  between 
Canute  and  Edmund-were  these  thereafter  to  be  two 
kingdoms,  handed  down  to  the  heirs  of  each  prince? 
or  L  the  survivor  of  the  two  to  inherit  the  whole? 
Canute  contended  for  the  latter  view,  and  summoned 
a  great  assembly  of  nobles  and  Churchmen  to  meet 
at  London  for  the  settlement  of  the  question      Sorne 
of  these  great  personages  had  been  present  at  the 
making  of  the  treaty.      They  swore-for  the   treaty 
itself  does  not  seem  to  have  been   produced-that 
Edmund  had  made  no  stipulation  as  to  the  succes 
sion  of  his  brother,  and  that  he  had  provided  for  the 
interests  of  his  children,  by  arranging  that  Canute 
should    be    their    guardian    till    they   reached   their 
majority.     This  settled  the  question  of  the  succession, 
and  Canute  was  acknowledged  without  further  diffi- 
culty as  King  of  England.     Early  in  the  next  year 
(1017)  he  was  solemnly  crowned  at  London.      He 
received  the  usual  vows  of  obedience  from  his  new 
subjects,  and  swore  in  return  that  he  would  rule  them 
justly     All  enmity  between  Englishmen  and  Danes 


296 


CANUTE. 


was  to  cease,  all  past  grudges  were  to  be  forgotten. 
The  brother  of  the  late  king,  the  Atheling  Ednc, 
was  outlawed,  and  his  children  were  sent  out  of  the 
country— first  to  Olaf  of  Sweden,  and  from  him  to 
Stephen,  King  of  Hungary.'     There  still  remained 
a  possible  enemy  in  Emma,  the  widow  of  Ethelred, 
who,  with  her  children,  was  now  living  at  the  Court 
of  her  brother,  Richard  of  Normandy.    Canute  made 
her  an  offer  of  marriage,  which  she  did  not  hesitate 
to  accept.      There  was  no  little  difference  in  their 
ages,  for  Emma  had  become  the  wife  of  Ethelred 
when  her  second   husband   was   but  seven   years  of 
age.     But  the  "  Gem  of  the  Normans  "  was,  doubtless, 
still  beautiful,  and  Canute  may  have  been  moved  by 
love  as  well  as   by  policy  in  offering  her  marriage. 
Emma  made  no  effort  to  secure  the  rights  of  her 
children  by  her  first  husband.     It  was  stipulated  that 
the  crown  of  England  should  descend  to  any  heir 
whom   she   might  bear  to   Canute.     When   in  the 
course  of  the  year  the  outlawed  Edric  came  to  his 
end^  Canute  felt  himself  secure  on  his  new  throne, 
as  far  as  rivals  of  the  English  royal  house  were  con- 
cerned.    But  there  were  still  persons  of  whom  he  was 
anxious  to  rid  himself     It  was  not  long  before  Edric 

■  It  was  said  that  Canute  wished  Olaf  to  put  these  children  to  death, 
as  likely  afterwards  to  become  troublesome  claimants  of  the  throne. 
Olaf  was  unwilling  either  to  commit  this  crime,  or  to  offend  his  powerful 
neighbour  by  protecting  possible  rivals,  and  sent  them  to  Hungary. 
Edmund,  the  elder  of  the  two,  married  one  of  Stephen's  daughters, 
and  died  in  early  manhood  without  children  ;  of  the  younger,  Edward, 

we  shall  hear  again. 

•  According  to  the  more  commonly  accepted  account,  he  was  assassi- 
nated by  order  of  Canute.  William  of  Malmesbury  declares  that  he 
returned  secretly  to  England,  and  died  of  grief. 


DANEGELT  OF  ;^82,500. 


297 


the  traitor  met  with  the  reward  of  his  many  misdeeds^ 
Canute,  very  soon  after  his  coronation,  had  appointed 
him  Earl  of  Mercia.     But  on  the  occasion  of  a  visi 
to  the  Court  angry  words  arose  between  the  king  and 
the  earl      Edric  is  said  to  have  boasted  of  having  first 
deserted  and  then  murdered  King  Edmund.     There- 
upon  Canute  burst  out :  "  Therefore  you  shall  die.  for 
you  are  guilty  of  treason  both  to  God  and  to  me. 
Whether  he  was   killed   in   the  King's   presence  or 
secretly  strangled  is  doubtful,  but  ^e  certainly  dis- 
appears from  history.    Some  time  afterwards'  Thork.l 
the  Dane,  who  had  received  the  government  of  East 
Anglia,  was  banished.    Other  nobles,  both  Englishmen 
and  Danes,  were  got  rid  of  in  the  same  way.    Anally 
the  King  relieved  himself  of  the  dangerously  large 
force  which  he   had  brought  with  him  from  home. 
A  Danegelt  of  ;f82,500  was  exacted  from  the  king- 
dom, a  tenth  of  it  being  levied  in  London,  and  the 
fleet' was  sent  back  to  Denmark. 

In  the  year  after  his  accession  Canute  held  a  great 
council  at  Oxford.     The  result  of  their  deliberations 
may  be  briefly  summed  up  by  saying  that  they  de- 
creed that  the  laws  of  King  Edgar  should  be  observed 
The  days  of  Edgar  the  Peacemaker  were,  it  is  evident, 
looked  back  to  as  a  golden  age  when  equal  justice 
was  done  between  man  and  man      "In  this  year 
says  the  Chronicler,  and  it  is  all  that  he  says.     Eng- 
lishmen and  Danes  were  made  to  be  of  one  mind  at 

*^fn  foi9  Canute  felt  himself  sufficiently  well  settled 

.  He  was  actually  banished  in  loai,  but  it  is  convenient  to  mention 
the  event  in  this  connection. 


«jif>^nw>  ■»  ■  -fct.-tit : 


298 


CANUTE. 


on  the  English  throne  to  be  able  to  pay  a  visit  to 
Denmark.  He  "  abode  there  the  whole  winter,"  and 
busied  himself  with  extending  his  dominions.  His 
achievements  in  this  way  would  have  little  or  no  con- 
nection with  English  history,  but  that  they  served 
to  bring  into  notice  a  great  Englishman  of  whom  we 
shall  hear  much  hereafter. 

Godwin,  son  of  Wulfnoth,'  had  been  promoted  to 
high  office  shortly  after  the  accession  of  Canute.     He 
now  accompanied  him  on  his  visit  to  Denmark,  in 
command,  it  would  seem,  of  a  contingent  of  English 
soldiers       The    Danish    king   marched   against    his 
northern  neighbours,  the  Wends.      The  two  armies 
lay  encamped  close  to  each  other,  and  in  the  night 
Godwin  and  his  Englishmen  attacked  the  enemy  and 
captured  their  camp.      Canute,  in  gratitude  for  this 
service,  loaded  the  English  leader  with  honours,  gave 
him  Gytha,  the  sister  of  the  Danish  Earl  Ulf,  to  wite, 
and  on  his  return  to  England  in  the  following  year 
made  him  Earl  of  Wessex.^ 

In  I020  Canute  made  a  thankoffering  for  his  victory 
at  Assandune,  which  is  memorable  in  more  ways  than 
one  "  He  went  to  Assandune."  says  the  Chronicler, 
"and  suffered  that  there  should  be  built  there  a  church 
of  stone  and  rubble  for  the  souls  of  the  men  who  had 
been  slain  in  that  place,  and  gave  it  to  a  certain 
priest,  whose  name  was  Stigand.  If  this  Stigand  was 
the  brave  archbishop  who  was  one  of  the  last  English- 

•  Theie  are  several  accounts  of  the  parentage  of  Godwin,  but  this 

seems  the  most  probable. 

>  William  of  Malmesbury  transfers  the  whole  of  this  story  to  the 

year  1025  and  to  another  war. 


Canute's  journey  to  romB.  i^9 

men  to  hold  out  against  the  Norman  Conquerors,  this 
was  a  notable  appointment.  _ 

Of  the  home  history  of  England   during  the  re- 
mainder of  Canute's  reign  there  is  little  to  tell.     It 
was  a  time  of  peace,  such  as  the  country  had   not 
enjoyed  since  the  days  of  Edgar.     Its  most  notable 
incidents  were  the  King's  journey  to  Rome  in  1027, 
and   his  legislation,  which  may  be  assigned   to   the 
years  1028-1035.     His  letter,  addressed  from  Rome 
to  '■  the  two  archbishops,  to  all  bishops  and  nobles, 
and  to  all  the  nation  of  the  English"  is  a  remarkable 
document.     He  declares  that  he  had  been  to  Rome 
to  pray  for  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins,  for  the  safety 
of  his  dominion,  and  of  the  people  under  his  govern- 
ment.    He  describes  the  honourable  treatment  which 
he  had  received,  and  the  concessions  which  he  had 
gained  from  foreign  princes,  that  his  subjects  shouW 
visit  the  Holy  City  without  hindrance,  and  from  the 
Pope  that  English  archbishops  should  not  have  to 
pay  the  vast  sums  which  had  before  been  demanded 
of  them   for  their   palls.'      And   he  then   goes  on 
"  Since  I  have  vowed  to  God  Himself  henceforwa  d 
to  reform  my  life  in  all  things,  and  justly  and  piously 
to  govern  the  kingdom  and  peoples  subject  to  me 
and  to  maintain  equal  justice  in  all  things  ;  and  have 
determined    through    God's   assistance    to   set   right 
anything  hitherto  unjustly  done,  either  through  the 
intemperances  of  my  youth,  or  through  negligence, 
therefore  I  call  to  witness  and  command  my  coun- 
sellors, to  whom  I  have  entrusted  the  go-^^^^^j^ 
my  kingdom,  that  they  by  no  means,  either  through 

*  See  p.  256. 


300 


CANUTE. 


fear  of  myself,  or  favour  to  any  powerful  person,  suffer 
henceforth  any  injustice,  or  cause  such  to  obtain  in 

all  my  kingdom." 

These  good  intentions  he  seems  to  have  honestly 
endeavoured  to  carry  out  by  the  legislation  which 
occupied  his  attention  during  the  latter  part  of  his 
reign,  whenever  he  was  not  occupied  with  the  affairs 
of  the  other  countries  which  owned  his  power.  The 
substance  of  this  legislation  may  be  thus  stated  : 

1.  Justice  was  to  be  administered  strictly,  but 
mercifully,  with  a  scrupulous  regard  for  human  life. 
The  weak  and  poor  were  to  be  pitied,  the  powerful 
visited  with  the  full  rigour  of  the  law. 

2.  The  trade  in  slaves,  as  carried  on  by  sending 
Christians  into  foreign  countries,  was  prohibited. 

3.  All  Pagan  rites  of  worship  and  superstitious 
observances,  such  as  the  worship  of  sun  and  moon, 
of  trees,  of  stones,  or  fountains,  were  forbidden.  All 
witches  and  soothsayers  were  to  be  severely  punished. 

4.  The  English  and  Danish  systems  of  law  were  to 
prevail  thenceforward  in  the  districts  in  which  they 
had  before  been  in  force. 

5.  The  dues  paid  to  the  King  were  lightened  in 
amount,  and  settled  on  a  fixed  principle,  exactions 
that  had  become  customary  being  abolished.  What 
we  should  now  call  the  "  game  laws  "  were  put  on  a 
reasonable  footing,  which  compares  favourably  with 
the  jealous  tyranny  exercised  in  this  matter  by 
the  Norman  kings.  Canute's  words  are,  "  1  will 
that  every  man  have  his  hunting  in  wood  and  field 
on  his  own  possessions,  but  let  him  beware  my 
hunting." 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  HOUSE   CARLES.      30I 

Order  was  provided    for   by  the   institution  of  a 
force  which  had  some  likeness  to  a  standmg  army  at 
least  to  that  part  of  it  which  is  especially  attached  to 
the  person  of  the  sovereign.^     The      House  Carles 
-this  was   the  name  of  the   force-were  ongmally 
the  crews  of  that   part  of  the   fleet   which    Canute 
retained  in   England.     As  time  went  on  they  must 
have  been  recruited  from  other  sources,  and  we  hear 
of  persons  not  Danes  being  enrolled  among  them 
Onginally  indeed  they  must   have  included  men  of 
.  .nous  nationalities,  and  it  is  probable  that  dunng 
the  eighteen  years  of  Canute's  reign  not  a  few  Eng- 
lishmen  were  enlisted  among   them,     Canute  never 
showed  any  jealousy  of  the  English  ;  on  the  contrary, 
he  seems  to  have  had  a  distinct  preference  for  them 
as  he   certainly   looked   upon    England  as  his  chief 
kingdom.     One  authority  describes  the  House  Carles 
as  "an  army  gathered  out  of  various  nations,  of  such 
that  is  to  say,  as  were  subject  to  the  king  s  rule.       It 
is  not  clear  what  were  the  number  of  the  force      One 
writer   says  that   there  were  six  thousand  of  them. 
This  would  allow  a  crew  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
for  each  ship.     But  it  is  not  likely  that  the  ships  were 
entirely  stripped  of  their  crews.     It  is  more  probab  e 
that  the  fighting  men  were  taken  out  of  them      Were 
we  to   halve  the  number  we   should  get  a   total  of 
f.ree  thousand,  and  this  is  the  figure  actually  men- 

^  Called  in  England  the  ''Household  Troops  ''a  -me  Sjv^^^  '^^^ 
regiments  of  Life  Guards  (cavalry).  The  relation  of  these  to  the 
*^t>*  r^,  under  his  personal  orders, 

sovereign  is  particularly  c  o^e      They  are  unde  P    ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

The  infantry  regiments   of  the      Guards      ^uren  , 

and  Fusiliers)  were  ori.inallv  on  a  similar  footing,  but  are  now  simply 

a  corps  d^ elite  of  the  general  army. 


"I 
;:  t 


302 


CANUTE. 


tioned  by  another  writer.  They  may  have  been 
afterwards  increased.  The  smaller  number  would 
suffice  for  putting  down  any  casual  outbreak,  or  for 
forming  the  nucleus  of  a  larger  army  when  such 
might  be  wanted.  And  their  cost  would  certainly 
be  as  much  as  could  be  easily  borne  by  the  mode- 
rate revenues    of  an    English  king  in  the  eleventh 

century. 

Of  the  relations  in  which  they  stood  to  the  people 
we  know  little  or  nothing.      We  may  be  sure  that 
they  would  need  to  be  kept  in  strict  order,  and  we 
may  also  feel  tolerably  certain  that  Canute  was  the 
man  to  do  this  very  effectively.     Stories  are  told  of 
their  violence  to  the  English,  and  it  is  not  impossible 
that   these  may  be   true.      Soldiers,  in  a  conquered 
country  are  apt  to  be  violent,  and  England  was,  in  a 
degree,  a  conquered  country,  though  Canute  did  his 
best  to  bring  about  a  better  state  of  things.     Perhaps 
it  would  be  safe  to  conjecture  that  during  his  reign 
such   misconduct   would   be   the   exception,  because 
regarded  with  disfavour  by  a  master  whom  the  Carles 
did  not  venture  to  despise,  that  in  the  days  of  his 
worthless  sons  it  came  to  be  the  rule. 

An  interesting  story  is  told  of  Canute's  own  rela- 
tion to  this  force.  In  a  fit  of  passion  the  King  killed 
one  of  the  Carles  with  his  own  hand.  When  he 
came  to  himself,  he  felt  the  deepest  repentance  for 
his  violence,  and  submitted  himself  to  the  judgment 
of  the  whole  body.  They  were  embarrassed  at  having 
to  deal  with  so  powerful  a  criminal,  and  refused  to 
pronounce  any  sentence.  Then  the  King  took  the 
law  into  his  own  hands,  and  imposed  upon  himself  a 


CANUTE  FAVOURS   THE  CHURCH.  3<^3 

fine  for  bloodshed  ^    nine  times   greater   than   that 
which  would  ordinarily  have  been  paid. 

Among   the  good    resolutions   which    Canute    an- 
nounced  in  his  famous  letter  from  Rome  was  one, 
that   thereafter   the    Church   should    have    its    dues 
regularly  paid.     This   he  seems  to  have   kept    and 
more  than  kept,  for  he  was  a  liberal   benefactor  to 
religious   persons  and  foundations.     It  was,   mdeed, 
to  monks  and    monasteries   that   this  liberahty  was 
chiefly   shown.      This  was   the   feeling   of  his  time 
The  strict  rule  and  ascetic  life  of  these  inhabitants  of 
the   cloister   appealed   to   the   feelings  of  men  who 
lived  in  the  world,  and  spent  their  days,  for  the  most 
part   in  violence  and   rude  pleasures.      The  secular 
clergy  seemed,  and  indeed  may  often  have  been,  too 
much  like  themselves.     Canterbury,  Winchester,  and 
Ramsey  ^  are  mentioned  as  some  of  the  monasteries 
on  which  the  King  and  his  Queen  E--^  ^e^^^^^j 
their  bounty.      Another   foundation    which   he   had 
many  reasons  for  favouring  was  that  of  St  Edmund 
the  East  Anglian  king  and  martyr.     The  saint  had 
met  his  death  from  Danish  hands,  and  had  showed, 
according  to  the  story  which  has  already  been  told 
that  he  had  not  forgotten  his  wrongs,  and  was  able 
to  avenge  them.     Accordingly  we  find   Canute  re- 
building  the  church  which  had  been  dedicated  to  the 
saint  in  the  town  now  called  St.  Edmundsbury.     And 

X  This  fine  a  very  ancient  and  wide-spread  custom   was  called  the 
c.  ,7"'  Id  varied  according  to  the  rank  of  the  person  slam 

:z^'^::^^  :u,  wU  was  ..e, .  ,,^.  to  th.  of 

'^^Rltef  U  fn^Huntingdonshire.      The   abbey   was    founded    in 
969. 


.■^ate-ri.j»^jiL>,jM4aih.«i:dLi.M.-.=.-iiiaiaiia^  wa 


M 


ELY. 


305 


he  had,  if  we  may  believe  tradition,  a  special  hk.ng 
for  Ely  A  stanza  is  said  to  have  been  .mprov.sed 
by  him  as  he  was  passing  in  his  barge  along  the 
Cam  The  river  which  flows  by  Ely.  It  may  be  thus 
modernized  : 

"  The  Ely  monks  sang  clear  and  high 
As  King  Canute  was  passing  by. 
♦  Row  near  the  door  and  hear  them  smg, 
Cried  to  his  knights  Canute  the  king. 

"  Merle  siengen  the  muneches  biunen  Ely 
Do  Cnut  ching  ren  ther  by 
Roweth  enichtes  noer  tha  land 
And  here  we  thes  muneches  saeng. 

(The  letters   peculiar  .0  old  English  have  been   changed  to  their 
modern  equivalents.) 

Though  we  are  chiefly  concerned   with  Canute's 
doings  as  an  English  king,  we  must  not  forget  that 
he   had   other   dominions.      Denmark    he    mhen ted 
from   his   father,    of  Norway   he    P°f  f  JJ'""^^ 
after  a  fierce  struggle  with  that  turbulent  samt,  Olaf 
of  Norway.     He  made  a  claim  to  th's  kmgdom    n 
1024,   and   enforced    it   by   an    expedition    in    1027 
(apparently  after  his  return  from  Rome),  and  agam 
by   another,  made   with   a   much    stronger    force,  in 
the  year  following.     Olaf  was  quite  unable  to  make 
any  resistance,  and    fled   into   Sweden.     Two  years 
afterwards  he  was  invited  back  by  some  discontented 
nobles,  and  was  defeated,  not  so  much  by  the  forces 
of  Canute,  as   by   the   Norwegian    peasants    at   the 

.  The  form  in  which  these  verses  come  down  to  us  is  much  later 
than  CanuU  time,  indeed  is  not  earlier  than  the  thirteenth  century. 


ELY. 


305 


he  had,  if  we  may  believe  tradition,  a  special  hk.ng 
for  Ely      A  stanza  is  said  to  have  been  .mprov.s  d 
Z  hi'm   as  he  was  passing   in  his  barge  alo.^  th 
Cam,  the  river  which  flows  by  Ely.     It  may  be  thus 

modernized  : 

♦'  The  Ely  monks  sanp;  clear  and  high 
As  King  Canute  was  passing  by.  ^ 

'  Row  near  the  door  and  hear  them  swig, 
Cried  to  his  kmghts  Canute  the  king. 

»  Merle  siengen  the  muneches  biunen  Ely 
Do  Cnut  ching  ren  ther  by 
Roweth  enichtes  noer  tha  land        ^^ 
And  here  we  thes  muneches  saeng.' 

(The   letters   peculiar  to  old  English  have  been    changed  to  their 
modern  ecjuivalents.) 

Though  we   are  chiefly  concerned    with  Canute's 
doings  as  an  English  king,  we  must  not  forget  that 
he   had   other   dominions.       Denmark   he    mher.ted 
from   his   father,    of   Norway   he    possessed    hmise  f 
after  a  fierce  struggle  with  that  turbulent  samtOlaf 
of  Norway.     He  made  a  claim  to  th-   k.ngdom    n 
1024,    and    enforced    it   by   an    expedition    in    lO./ 
(apparently  after  his  return  from   Rome),  and  agam 
by   another,  made    with    a   much    stronger    force,  m 
the  year  following.     Olaf  was  quite  unable  to  make 
any  resistance,  and    fled    into    Sweden.     Two  years 
afterwards  he  was  invited  back  by  some  discontented 
nobles,  and  was  defeated,  not  so  much  by  the  forces 
of  Canute,  as   by   the   Norwegian    peasants    at   the 

.  Tl,e  form  in  which  these  verses  come  down  to  us  i=  "">^h  ';'^' 
than  Canute's  time,  indeed  is  no,  earlier  than  the  thirteenth  centur). 


'■I' 


•mtJ   YlVS'irf'nl  .Aji4£>«4B 


J  Aiiijf ^J?WKL.»a  jH 


3o6 


CANUTE, 


DEATH  OF  CANUTB. 


307' 


"Hwi 


battle  of  Vaerdalen  I   (1030).     Sweden  has  been  said 
to  have  been  one  of  his  kingdoms.     This  is  an  error, 
though  he  possibly  was  master  of  some  few  places 
which  are  now  included  in  the   Swedish  territories. 
Besides  being  king  of  England,  he  was  overlord  of 
Scotland,  his  power,  reaching  as  far  as  the  Hebrides, 
which,  indeed,  had  for  many  years  been  largely  occu- 
pied by  men  of  Danish  race.      Ireland  also  owned 
his  supremacy,  for  we  find  that  coins  were  minted  in 
his  name  at  Dublin.     Altogether,  at  least  during  the 
latter  years  of  his  life,  he  had  a  wide-reaching  and 
solid  dominion,  and  may  well  have  cherished  the  idea 
which  has  been  attributed  to  him,  of  founding  a  great 
northern  empire. 

Of  his  relations  with  foreign  powers  not  much  is 
known.     When  he  was  at  Rome  he  met  the  Emperor, 
Conrad  II.,  and,  indeed,  was  present  at  his  coronation. 
With  this   prince  he  made  a  treaty  by  which  some 
portions  of  Denmark,  which  had  been  seized  by  one 
of  Conrad's  predecessors,  were  to  be  restored.     The 
alliance  was  strengthened  by  the  betrothal  of  one  of 
Canute's  daughters  to  the  Emperor.     Of  his  dealings 
with  the  Norman  Dukes  a  not  very  clear  story  is  told. 
It  seems  evident  that  there  was  some  quarrel  between 
Canute  and   Duke   Robert,  who  had  succeeded   his 
father,  Richard,  in  1028.    Robert  had  married  Estrith, 
Canute's  sister,  and  widow  of  Earl  Ulf    He  is  said  to^ 

^  Otherwise  called  Sticklestead.  The  adherence  of  the  peasants  to 
the  cause  of  Canute  may  be  taken  as  a  proof  of  the  popularity  of  his 
rule  ;  but  it  doubtless  had  something  to  do  with  the  quarrel  between 
Christianity  and  Paganism.  The  Norwegian  people  were  still,  in  a  great 
measure,  heathen,  while  Olaf  was  an  enthusiastic  champion  of  Chris- 
tianity, which  he  preached  in  a  somewhat  violent  way. 


have  ne-^lected  and  ill-treated  her,  and  even  to  have 
sent  her  back  to  England.  Besides  th.s  he  cla.med 
he  crown  of  England  for  his  cousm,  the  son  of 
K  ng  E^elred  b/Em.a,  one  of  the  Ponces  whose 
Hghl  we  have  seen  so  quietly  put  as.de  on  the  oc 
casion  of  their  mother's  second  marriage. 

What  was  actually  done  is  not  so  easy  to  dec.de^ 
The  northern  chroniclers  declare  that  Canute  made 
I'o  expeditions  against  Normandy,  ^  Rob^^^^^^^^^^^ 
Terusalem  to  avoid  his  vengeance,  and  that  he  h.mseii 
m  t  w  h  his  death  before  Rouen.     All  th.s  seems  to 
be  fict  on      What  is  more  likely  to  be  true  ,s  that  the 
Duke  fitted  out  a  fleet  with  which  he  intended  to  m- 
°  de  EngVand  and  restore  the  English  princes  to  the 
Ihlnfof  their  father  ;  that  this  fleet  met  w.th  rough 
weXr  and  was  driven  out  of  its  course  ;  that  fin al^ 
peace  was  made  between  the  two  prmces.  One  of  the 
S    niclers  relates  that  m  his  day  the  remams  o    th 
ships  with  which  Duke  Robert  had  made  this  unsuc 
ful  attempt  was  still  to  be  seen  at  Rouen 

In  1035  Canute  died.    We  know  nothing  of  the  cir 
cumstances  of  his  death  except  that  it  took  place  at 
Sh"  esbury.  He  could  not  have  been  more  than  forty 

'^Theting  who  thus  passed  away  in  the  flower  of  his 
STood  fesoected  if  not  beloved  by  his  people,  and 
Ton  to  be  V  ?;  passionately  regretted  by  them,  was  a 
::  ;  m.r..t  ll  from  the  violent  youth,  who  ^m 
seventeen  years  before,  had  been  -«-"-^   king  in 
London.     But  though  the  change  was  great   it  was 
still  one  that  we  can   understand   and   account   fon 
Canute  felt  strongly   that   England  was,  of  all  his 


308  CANUTE. 

possessions,  the  one  which  was  best  worth  having  ; 
and  he  was  great  enough  to  see  that  he  must  hold  it 
as  an  English,  not  as  a  foreign,  ruler.    He  did  his  best 
to  live  up  to  this  position.    The  son  of  a  heathen  king, 
one,  it  must  be  remembered,  who  had  relapsed  from 
Christianity  into  heathenism,  he  became  a  Christian, 
and  gave  no  small  proofs  of  the  sincerity  of  his  con- 
version.   Brought  up  amongst  associations  of  savagery 
and  violence,  and  inheriting,  it  may  well  be  believed, 
a  fierce  and  passionate  temper,  he  did  his  best  to  con- 
quer himself.     That  he  never  wholly  succeeded  it  is 
easy  to  believe  ;  the  story  that  has  been  told  of  the 
house  carl  whom  he  slew  in  his  rage  proves  as  much. 
But  self-restraint  seems  to  have  been  the  rule  of  his 
life.     We  may  not  compare  him  with  such  a  king  as 
Alfred.  Scruples  had  little  power  over  him  when  some 
object  of  policy  was  to  be  attained.     The  writers  who 
speak  most  highly  in  his  praise,  who  describe  him  as 
a  wise  and  mighty  ruler,  also  talk  of  his  craft.     His 
standard  of  kingship  was  not,  perhaps,  the  highest,  but 
he  did  his  best  to  be  true  to  it. 

Of  the  man  himself  we  get  a  few  glimpses  over  and 
above  those  which  the  history  has  given  us.  One  of 
them  reminds  us  of  the  story  which  describes  him  as 
listening  with  delight  to  the  chanting  of  the  Ely  monks. 
He  was  a  "great  lover  of  minstrels,"  says  one  of  the 
chroniclers,  after  praising  his  might  and  his  craft. 
Among  the  poets  that  came  to  his  Court  was  a  cer- 
tain Othere  the  Black,  an  Icelander,  and  a  kinsman  of 
the  great  Sighvat.      The  story  of  his  welcome  runs 

thus  : 

"  After  evensong  the  King  came  into  the  hall  and 


ANECDOTES  OF  CNUT. 


309 


said  '  I  see  a  man  here  who  is  not  of  this  country. 
He  looks  like  a  poet,  and  I  would  sooner  have  h.m  to 
second  me  in  a  wager  of  battle  than  any  one  here^ 
And  now  Othere  entered  the  hall  and  addressed  the 
King  in  a  verse,x  and  forthwith  asked  to  be  allowed  to 
S  a  poem  on  the  King.     Cnut  -swere     and    h 

poem  was  delivered  to  a  ^^^-^^^'^^^^  V.^^^^^ 
day's  mod,  and  the  King  praised  it,  and  took  a  Russian 
cap  off  h  s  head,  broidered  with  gold  and  with  gold 
knots  to  it,  and  bade  his  chamberlain  fill  it  with  silver, 
an^give  i  to  the  poet.     He  did  so,  and  reached  it  ov.r 
LenKhoulders,  for  there  was  a  crowd,  and  the  heaped- 
"p  s  Iver  tumbled  out  of  the  hood  on  the  mod-stage 
the  platform  for  the  speakers].     He  was  going  top  c^^^ 
\t  up  but  the  King  told  him  to  et  it  be       The  poor 
<.h^]\  have  it  and  thou  shalt  not  lose  by  it ! 
^' we llh'a  higher  point  in  the  well-known  story  o 
the  King  and  his  courtiers  which  I  shall  tell  m  the 
ToToU^e  Chronicler,  Henry  of  Huntingdon   who 
first  relates  it.     The  whole  passage  may  be  given  . 

■Three  things  did  the  same  King  wittily  and  well. 
FirsUv  he  gav!  his  daughter  to  wife  to  the  Emperor 
o  Se  wfth  riches  beyond  all  counting.  Secondly 
:oleyingtoRome,.c^^d-^^^^^^^^ 

::r °r "^^gr^r  rRom.  should  be 

d  minished  to  one'half,  paying,  therefor   moneys  o 
his  own.     Thirdly,  in  the  very  height  ol  his  power,  he 
bade  set  his  chair  on  the  shore  of  the  sea,  when  the 

.  The  ve.e  ran  thus,  "  Let  us  so  greet  t^e  King  oahe  Danes  Irish, 
English,  and  Island  Dwellers,  that  h:s  praise  may  travel  w 
lands  as  far  as  the  pillars  of  heaven. 


t\MJS3^1&^ 


310 


CANUTE. 


tide  was  flowing  ;  and  to  the  tide,  as  it  flowed,  he 
said,  '  Thou  art  my  subject  ;  and  the  land  on  which  I 
sit  is  mine  ;  nor  hath  there  ever  been  one  that  resisted 
my  bidding,  and  suffered  not.  I  command  thee,  there- 
fore, that  thou  come  not  up  on  my  land,  nor  presume 
to  wet  the  garments  and  Hmbs  of  thy  lord.'     But  the 
sea,  rising  after  its  wont,  wetted  without  respect  the 
feet  and  legs  of  the  King.    Therefore  leaping  back  he 
said,  '  Let  all  dwellers  on  the  earth  know  that  the 
power  of  kings  is  a  vain  and  foolish  thing,  and  that 
no  one  is  worthy  to  bear  the  name  of  king,  save  only 
Him,  whose  bidding  the  heavens,  and  the  earth,  and 
the  sea  obey  by  everlasting  laws.'  Nor  ever  thereafter 
did  King  Canute  set  his  crown  of  gold  upon  his  head, 
but  put  it  for  ever  on  the  image  of  our  Lord,  which 
was  fastened  to  the  cross." 


XXVIIL 

THE  SONS  OF  CANUTE. 

Canute  left  two  sons  by  his  first  wife,  Elgiva,  and 
a  son  and  a  daughter  by  Emma  of  Normandy.    The 
sons  of  Elgiva,  indeed,  were  commonly  said  not  to  be 
the  children  of  Canute.    The  story  was  that  she  never 
bore  a  child,  but  that  she  palmed  off  on  her  husband 
two  boys  whom  she  had  purchased  for  the  purpose. 
The    story  has   an   incredible    look,   and    curiously 
resembles  the   fiction   which,  for   many  years,   halt 
England  devoutly  believed  about  the  Old  Pretender.^ 
Sweyn,  the  elder  of  the  two  sons  of  Elgiva,  had  been 
Canute's  vicegerent  in  Norway.    His  cruelties  excited 
a  revolt  in  that  country,  and  he  was  expelled,  together 
with  his  mother.     There  seems  never  to  have  been 
any  question  of  calling  him  to  the  throne  of  England. 
Harold  was  in  England  at  the  time  of  the  King  s 
death      Nothing  was  said  in  any  will  about  his  rights 
of  succession.     On  the  other  hand,  it  had  been  stipu- 
lated, as  has  been  already  said,  on  the  occasion  of 

.  Commonly  called  the  "Warming  Pan"  s.ory.      It  -s  decUred 
that  Mary  ol  Modena.  the  wife  of  James  II..  of  E"g --i  f  .d  "°^^^^^^^^ 
give  birth  to  a  child,  but  that  the  infant,  afterwards  the  Old  Pretender, 
was  introduced  into  the  queen's  chamber  in  a  warming-pan. 


^^.-  &.'^^aA^^li^iS^Ss^'ffi>>Sahii^ii^'  ,'^^..A£^^^^SiSf:j&'^ii^-iai^j^i^^^i^^!^S»sf&^ti!Sj^i^ 


ffgaafflStf  '^'^aJ^JtKt* 


;-#K5fsj©--i'»s*' 


m 


312  THE   SONS  OF  CANUTE. 

Canute's  second  marriage,  that  the  crown  was  to  goto 
a  son  of  Emma.  Such  a  son  there  was,  Hardicanute 
by  name,  who  had  been  sent  by  his  father  to  act  as 
his  viceroy  in  Denmark. 

The  question   now    arose— who  was    to    succeed 
Canute  .'     Hardicanute  had  the  better  right,  but  he 
was  away,  and  he  showed  no  desire  to  return.     He 
preferred  to  remain,  for  the  present  at  least,  m  Den- 
mark, which  was  indeed  threatened  by  the  new  rulers 
of  Norway.'      Harold,  on  the  other  hand,  had   the 
advantage  of  being  on  the  spot.     A  council  was  held 
soon  after  Canute's  death  to  determine  this  matter  of 
the  succession,  and  its  deliberations  showed  a  great 
difference  of  opinion.     Godwin,  the  Earl  of  Wessex, 
supported  the  claim  of  Hardicanute.      But  Wessex 
stood  alone  ;  the  rest  of  England,  led  by  Leofwm  of 
Mercia,  took  up  the  cause  of  Harold  ;  London,  where 
a  great  Danish  colony  had  now  been  established,  was 
strongly  in  his   favour.      Finally  a  compromise  was 
agreed  upon.  Mercia  and  Northumbria,  in  other  words, 
the  Midlands  and  the  North,  to  which  we  should  pro- 
bably add,  the  East  of  England,  were  to  belong  to 
Harold  ;  Hardicanute  was  to  have   the   South   and 
West.    Till  he  should  return  from  Denmark,  Emma, 
holding  her  Court  at  Winchester,  was  to  act  as  regent. 
The  administration  really  lay  in  the  hands  of  Godwin. 
But   there  were  other  claimants  to  the  throne  of 
whom   the  assembly  at  Oxford   took  no  account- 
Emma's  two  sons  by  Ethelred-the  Athelings,  Alfred 
and  Edward.    They  had  resided  from  early  childhood 
at  the  Court  of  their  kinsman,  the  Duke  of  Normandy, 

'  The  son  of  St.  Olaf  had  b«en  recalled  to  the  throne. 


CLAIMANTS   TO   THE   THRONE. 


313 


and  they  now  made  an  attempt  to  recover  their  in- 
heritance.    The  history  of  this  attempt  is  involved 
from  beginning   to  end   in    much   obscurity.      The 
Atheling  Edward  is  said  to  have  sailed  from  Nor- 
mandy with  a  fleet  of  forty  ships,  to  have  landed  near 
Southampton,  and  to  have  made  his  way  to  his  mother 
at  Winchester.    But  neither  she  nor  the  people  gene- 
rally gave  him  a  welcome      His  Norman  followers, 
too,  began  to  plunder  the  country,  and  excited  much 
hatred.     Finally  matters  began  to  have  so  threaten- 
ing a  look,  that  Edward  retreated  to  the  coast,  em- 
barked, and  made  his  way  back  to  Normandy.     The 
story  may  be  true  ;  but  if  it  is,  it  shows  Edward  m  a 
much  more  vigorous  character  than  we  ever  find  him 

in  asrain.  ,    ,.        *  ir    j 

About  the  adventurer  of  the  other  Atheling  Alfred, 
we  know  more  ;  but  here,  also,  much  is  doubtful.   1  he 
young  prince  certainly  landed  in   England.      It   is 
equally  certain  that  he  was  seized,  and  cruelly  put  to 
death.     He  did  not  come  with  a  large  military  force  ; 
he  seems,  in  fact,  to  have  declined  the  offer  of  help 
from  Baldwin  of  Flanders,  and  to  have  relied  on   he 
support  that  his  countrymen  would  give  h.m  as  the 
on'of  their  old   king,   Ethelred       The  commonly 
accepted  story  runs  that  he  landed  at  Dover  ,  that  at 
GuilSford  he  was  met  by  Godwin,  who  pretended  to 
welcome  him,  and  hospitably  entertained  him  and  his 
followers.    Then  we  are  told  that  during  the  night 
Godwin's   men  seized  and  bound  the  whole  party 
that  some  were  killed,  and  others  sold  as  slaves  ;  that 
Alfred  himself  was  sent  to  King  Harold  at  London  ; 
that  Harold  caused  him  to  be  blinded,  and  sent  h.m 


3H 


THE   SONS   OF  CANUTE.. 


i 


to  Ely,  where   he  died,  the  weapon  with  which  his 
sight  had  been  destroyed  having  wounded  his  brain. 
Finally,  we  are  told  that  Godwin  acted  in  the  matter 
as  Harold's  agent.     That  many  people  at  the  time, 
and  afterwards,  believed  that  Godwin  had  some  share 
in  the  deed  is  manifest.     The  earl,  indeed,  was  for- 
mally accused  and  tried   on  the  charge  about  four 
years  afterwards.     But  it  has  been  pointed  out  •  that 
Godwin  was  not  a  minister  of  Harold,  but  the  prin- 
cipal  counsellor   of  Hardicanute,  or   rather   of  the 
Queen-regent  Emma.    Further,  we  have  to  remember 
that  the  trial  of  Godwin,  when  the  case  was  regularly 
examined,  resulted  in  his  acquittal.     And,  finally,  we 
must  take  into  account  that,  even  if  the  story  is  true, 
Alfred  did  but  meet  the  fate  which  an  unsuccessful 
pretender  must  expect.     That  death  was  inflicted  in 
a  barbarous  way  is  doubtless  true  ;    the  agreement 
of  testimony  on  this   point  is  too  strong  to  be  set 
aside.    But  there  is  no  strong  evidence  to  bring  home 
this  cruelty  to  Godwin,  and  we  may  fairly  give  credit 
to  his  own  persistent  and  solemn  denials  of  any  guilt 
in  the  matter.     There  is  no  difficulty,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  crediting  King  Harold  with  this  or  any  other 
atrocity.      Still  it  is  not  unlikely  that  Godwin  had 
some  share,  not  in  the  Atheling's  death,  but  in  his 
arrest.      Alfred's   attempt  had    it   succeeded,   would 
have  been  as  fatal  to  Hardicanute,  Godwin's  master, 
fts  to  Harold  ;  and  the  earl  would  have  been  failing 
in  his  duty  if  he  had  not  done  his  best  to  crush  it. 
The  arrangement  by  which  England  was  divided 

.  By  Professor  Freeman,  who  has  examined  the  question  exhaustively 
in  his  "  Norman  Conquest." 


HARDICANUTE   INVADES  ENGLAND.  3^S 

between  the  two  sons  of  Canute  did  not  remain  long 
in  force.      Hardicanute  still  remained  in   Denmark, 
and  the  nobles  of  Wessex,  vexed  at  his  refusal  to 
return,  deposed  him,  and  Harold  Harefoot  (a  name 
given  him  on  account  of  his  speed  of  foot)  became 
king   over  the  whole  realm  (1037)-     Q"een  Emma 
was  banished,  but  Godwin  succeeded  in  gaining  the 
new  king's  favour,  and  kept  his   place  and  power. 
Little  is  told  us  of  Harold's  other  doings  during  his 
short  reign.     We  hear  of  the  Welsh  under  Griffith 
making  a  successful  inroad  into  England  and  fight- 
ing a  battle  in  which  Edwin,  brother  of  the  Mercian 
earl    was   killed   along  with  other   English  nobles. 
Duncan  of  Scotland  also  invaded  the  country  and 
got  as  far  as  Durham.    Durham,  which  we  have  heard 
of  as  uninhabited  long  after  the  time  of  St   Cuth- 
bert,  had  now  become  a  populous  and  we U-fortified 
city,  crowned  by  a  splendid  minster.    The  Scottish 
king  was  defeated  with  great  loss  before  its  walls,  and 
was  glad  to  make  his  escape  to  his  own  dommK^ns 

In  1039  Hardicanute   left    Denmark,  which,  now 
that  he  had   concluded   a   peace   with    Magnus    of 
Sweden    he  felt   to  be  safe.      He  spent  the  winter 
Sh  S  mother,  who  had  found  shelter  with  Baldwin 
of  Flanders,  and  made  preparations  for  an  invasion  of 
England  in  the  following  spring.     The  -vasion  how- 
eve?,  was  never  made,  for  the  "own  came  to  him  in 
the  bourse  of  nature.     On  March  17  h,  Harold  Har. 
foot  died  at  Oxford  after  a  long  illness.     He  could 
not  have  been  more  than  twenty-six  years  of  age.    Ul 
hS  character  we  know  little,  and  that  little  .jo  tm 
his  favour.    The  Chronicles  speak  of  his  irrel.gion, 


THE  ENGLISH   TAXEli. 


5lf 


and  of  his  selling  Church  preferments  for  money.  We 
have  seen  that  the  worst  part  of  the  guilt  of  Alfred  s 
cruel  death  probably  rests  upon  his  shoulders. 

Hardicanute  was  chosen  king  by  an  assembly  which 
met  shortly  after  Harold's  death.    At  midsummer  he 
came  over   to  England,  landing  at  Sandwich,   and 
shortly  afterwards  was  crowned  at  Canterbury.     He 
began  his  reign  by  a  disgraceful  act  of  vengeance. 
The  body  of  Harold  was  taken  out  of  its  tomb  at 
Westminster,  beheaded,  and  thrown  into  the  Thames. 
It  was  recovered  from  the  river  by  a  fisherman,  de- 
livered by  him  to  the  Danish  colony  in  London,  and 
buried  again  in   their   cemetery  outside  the  walls.' 
This  must  have  been  an  unpopular  act,  for  Harold 
had   been  the  choice  of  nearly  the  whole   English 
people,  and  probably  had  not  reigned  long  enough  to 
excite  any  great  discontent.     Still  more  hateful  to 
the  people  must  have  been  the  imposition  of  a  heavy 
tax  for  the  payment  of  the  fleet  which  Hardicanute 
had  brought  with  him.    A  sum  of  ;i:22,ooo  was  levied 
in  one  year,  and  another  of  ;£i  i.ooo  in  the  next.     It 
is  interesting  to  be  told  that  each  rower  received  eight 
marks,  and   each   steersman   twelve.^      The   city   of 
Worcester  refused,  we  are  told,  to  make  this  payment, 
and  an  expedition  led  by  Leofric  of  Mercia,  Siward 

.  The  reader  must  conceive  of  London  as  not  reaching  further  west- 
ward  at  this  time  than  the  western  end  of  Fleet  Street,  the  spot  so  long 
marked  by  Temple  Bar.  Outside  lay  the  open  space  which  .s  now 
called  the  Strand,  or  river  bank  ;  and  here,  m  the  P'-^  »he-  the 
Church  of  St.  Clement  Danes  still  preserves  a  memory  of  the  fact. 
wq<;  the  burial  place  of  the  colony. 

"  Eight  marks  =  £s  &.  8d.  (about  ^27).  The  Chronicler  says  that 
there  were  sixty-two  ships.  This,  after  deducting^496  for  the  steers- 
men, would  allow  rather  more  than  sixty  rowers  for  each  ship. 


Ml. 


pirffiffffif.  I  .'! 


THE   ESOUSH    TAXED. 


317 


and  of  his  selling  Church  preferments  for  mone>v  We 
have  seen  that  the  worst  part  of  the  gu.lt  of  Alfreds 
cruel  death  probably  rests  upon  his  shoulders. 

Hardicanute  was  chosen  king  by  an  assembly  which 
met  shortly  after  Harold's  death.     At  midsummer  he 
came   over   to   England,  landing   at  Sandwich,   and 
shortly  afterwards  was  crowned  at  Canterbury.     He 
be-an  his  reign  by  a  disgraceful  act  of  vengeance. 
The  body  of  Harold  was  taken  out  of  its  tomb  at 
Westminster,  beheaded,  and  thrown  into  the  "1  hames. 
It  was  recovered  from   the  river  by  a  fisherman,  de- 
livered  by  him  to  the  Danish  colony  in  London,  and 
buried  again  in    their   cemetery  outside   the  walls.' 
This  must  have  been  an  unpopular  act,  for  Harold 
had   been  the  choice   of  nearly  the  whole    Knglish 
people,  and  probably  had  not  reigned  long  enough  to 
excite  any  great  discontent.     Still  more  hateful  to 
the  people  must  have  been  the  imposition  of  a  heavy 
tax  for  the  payment  of  the  fleet  which  Hardicanute 
had  brought  with  him.    A  sum  of  i:22,ooo  was  levied 
in  one  year,  and  anotlier  of  £i  1,000  in  the  next.     It 
is  interesting  to  be  told  that  each  rower  received  eight 
marks,  and   each   steersman   twelve.^      The   city   of 
Worcester  refused,  we  are  told,  to  .Bake  this  payment 
and  an  expedition  led  by  Leofric  of  Merc.a,  S.ward 

.  The  rc-ider  nu,>.  c.nceive  of  L.>n,lon  ..s  not  renching  further  west- 
war,l  at  this  tin>e  than  the  western  en.l  of  I'iee,  Street,  the  spot  so  long 
marke,l  by  Temple  Bar.  Outside  lay  the  o,,en  ^^^ /'"^'"^  ""  ' 
called  the  Strand,  ,.  r.ver  hanU  :  and  here,  tn  the  place  wh  re  he 
Church  of  St.  Clement  Danes  still  preserves  a  memory  of  tire  fact, 
was  the  burial  place  of  the  colony. 

-  Eight  maris  =  £s  6s.  8d.  (about  ^27).  The  ^^'"-f^'^^y^^^^' 
there  were  sixty-two  ships.  This,  after  .lcductmg^496  f>;r  the  steers- 
men, would  allow  rather  more  than  si.xty  rowers  lor  each  ship. 


3i8 


THE   SONS   OF  CANUTE. 


of  Northumbria,   and   other   nobles,   were   made   to 
reduce  the  city  to  submission.      For  four  days  the 
country  was  ravaged,  and  on  the  fifth  the  city  itself 
was  burnt.     The   inhabitants,   however,   are   said  to 
have  escaped,  some    by  flight,  others  by  defending 
themselves  on  an  island  of  the  Severn.     The  army 
which  Leofric  and  his  companions  led  against  Wor- 
cester was  largely  composed  of  the  House  Carles,  and 
we  hear  many  stories  of  the  rapacity  and  violence  of 
this  force.     Besides  their  military  duties,  they  seem  to 
have  been  employed  as  collectors  of  the  Danegelt. 
Tax-gatherers  are  never  welcome  visitors,  and  it  may 
easily   be   believed  that    soldiers    employed    in    this 
capacity  may  have  made  themselves  specially  odious. 
The  only  other  memorable  act  of  Hardicanute  is 
his  effort  to  destroy  his  powerful  subject.  Earl  Godwin. 
The  earl  was  accused,  as  has  been   said,  of  having 
brought  about  the  death  of  the  Atheling  Alfred.     He 
was  tried  by  the  nobles  and  Churchmen  of  England. 
Depositions    of    his    accusers   were    taken,  and   he 
affirmed   his    innocence   upon    oath,  and  his  judges 
also  took  their  oaths  that  they  believed  his  affirma- 
tion.    The  favour  of  the  King  himself,  who  indeed 
owed   him   much,  he    seems  to   have  regained  by  a 
handsome  present.     This  was  a  splendid  ship,  which 
is  thus  described  by  Florence  of  Worcester.     It  had 
a  gilded  beak,  and  was  equipped  in  a  most  perfect 
manner.     Eighty  warriors  manned  it,  and  every  one 
of  them  bore  a  golden  bracelet  on  each  arm  of  six- 
teen ounces  weight,  was  armed  with  a  strongly  woven 
habergeon,  and  a  helmet  partly  gilt.     Each  also  was 
girded  with  a  gilded  sword  ;   from  his  left  shoulder 


END   OF  CANUTE'S  DYNASTY. 


319 


hung  a  Danish  axe,  bound  with  gold  and  silver ;  in 
his  left  hand  was  a  shield,  the  boss  and  the  nails  of 
which  were  gilded,  and  in  his  right  a  lance,  the 
English  name  of  which  was  "  aetgar." 

Hardicanute   appears  not   to  have  been   married. 
At  least  we  hear  nothing  of  wife  or  child.     It  was 
probably  with  the  thought  of  providing  for  the  suc- 
cession that  he  invited  the  Atheling  Edward  to  come 
over  from  Normandy.     Not  long  after  his  reign  came 
to  a  sudden  end.     "  This  year  died  Hardicanute,"  we 
read  in  one  of  the  Chronicles,  "  as  he  stood  at  his 
drink"      He   had  honoured   with   his   presence   the 
marriage   of    his   standard-bearer,   a   great   Danish 
noble    Tofig,  surnamed  the   Proud.      The  wedding 
feast  was  held  at  Lambeth,  where  Clapa,  the  father 
of  the  bride,  had  his  house.     "  As  the  king  stood  in 
good  health  and  joyous,  drinking  with  the  aforesaid 
bride  and  certain  men,"  he  fell  down  in  a  fit.      As 
he  is  described  as  having  struggled  fearfully,  the  fit 
was  probably  epileptic.     Whatever  was  its  nature  it 
was  fatal  in  the  course  of  a  day  or  two.    With  Hardi- 
canute the  shortlived  dynasty  of  Canute  came  to  an 
end.    He  was  probably  in  his  twenty-third  or  twenty- 
fourth  year. 


XXIX. 


EDWARD  THE  CONFESSOR. 


After  what  we  have  heard  of  the  doings  of  Canute's 
sons,  it  is  not  surprising  to  be  told  by  the  Chronicler  that 
"  all  the  people  chose  Edward  king  in  London."  They 
were  wearied  of  Danes ;  they  would  have  an  English 
ruler.  But  unfortunately — if  indeed  it  turned  out  to 
be  unfortunate — the  man  whom  they  chose  was  not 
an  Englishman  except  in  name.  That  his  mother 
was  Norman  might  not  have  mattered  much,  for  on 
the  father's  side  he  came  of  the  stock  of  Alfred ;  and 
Englishmen  know  by  experience  how  thoroughly 
English  kings  who  are  even  on  both  sides  of  foreign 
descent  can  become.  But  all  his  life  had  been  spent 
in  Normandy ;  all  his  tastes  had  been  formed  there  ; 
he  had  no  thought  but  to  make  England  as  like  the 
home  of  his  youth  as  he  could.  His  coming,  therefore, 
was  the  peaceful  beginning  of  the  Conquest  which  was 
to  be  completed,  or,  it  would  be  better,  perhaps,  to 
say  decided,  four  and  twenty  years  afterwards,  on  the 
bloody  field  of  Senlac.  It  was  a  strange  ordering  cf 
fate  that  made  this  island  three  times  the  spoil  of 
three  successive  swarms  of  invaders  belonging  sub- 
stantially to  the  same  race.    Both  Saxons  and  Danes 


JEDWARD   CROWNED  KING, 


3^1 


were  rovers  of  the  sea  who  issued  from  the  harbours 
of  Eastern  Europe,  and  the  Normans  were  Norwegians 
who  had  been  settled  for  some  generations  in  a  pro- 
vince  which  they  had  won  from  France.^ 

Edward  was  in  Normandy  when   the  crown  thus 
came   to   him.     He   was   not   altogether   willing    to 
accept  it  ;  but  Earl  Godwin  persuaded  him  to  yield, 
and  he  came  over   to  England.     There  was  still  a 
Danish  party  in  England,  and  there  were  some  who 
advocated  the  claims  of  Sweyn,  the  cousin  of  Hardi- 
Canute  ;  but  the  influence,  the  eloquence,  and,  it  was 
said,  the  bribes,  of  Godwin  prevailed,  and  on  Easter 
Day  (April  3rd),  1043,  Edward  was  "hallowed  king' 
at   Winchester.      Ambassadors    from    France,   from 
Germany,  and  from  Norway,  were  present,  bringing 
gifts  from  their  sovereigns  ;  gifts  too  were  offered  by 
the  great  English  nobles,  Godwin  presenting  him,  as 
he  had  presented  his  predecessor,  with  a  splendidly 

adorned  ship. 

The  new  king  was  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood,^ 
♦'  a  man,"  as  his  biographer  describes  him,  "  of  very 
comely  person  ;   his  stature  moderate ;  his  hair  and 

X  During  the  ninth  century,  and  in  the  early  years  of  the  tenth,  pirates 
from  Norway  had  sailed  up  the  Seine  and  formed  settlements  at  the 
mouth  and  along  the  shores  of  that  river.     In  912  Rolf  the  Norseman 
made  a  treaty  with  Charles  the  Simple,  by  which  a  region  which,  to 
speak  generally,  was  the  Normandy  of  later  times,  was  handed  over  to 
him  and  his  followers.     The  Northmen  then  became  a  settled  people, 
far  superior  in  civilization  to  their  kinsmen,  whether  in  Scandmavia  or 
in  England.     This  superiority  they  owed  in  part  to  the  readmess  with 
which  they  adopted  the  ways  of  the  Latinized  people  among  whom  they 
had  found  a  home.     Their  romantic  adventures,  which  took  them  as 
far  afield  as  Constantinople,  form  the  subject  of  one  of  the  volumes  in 
the  '*  Story  of  the  Nations." 
*  He  was  probably  born  in  1004. 


322 


EDWARD   THE   CONFESSOR. 


beard  of  a  singular  milky  whiteness  ;  his  face  full ; 
his  skin  rosy  ;  his  hands  long  and  exceedingly  white; 
his  fingers  long  and  transparent ;  the  rest  of  his  body 
without  blemish  ;  a  truly  kingly  man."     His  temper 
was  quick,  but  commonly  under  good  control  ;    he 
was  gentle,  affable,  so  courteous  in  manner  that  his 
refusal  of  a  request  was  as  pleasant  as  another  man's 
granting    it.     He   was  devout    with  something,  one 
cannot  but  believe,  of  genuine  piety  in  his  devotion. 
He  wished  well  to  his  people  ;  he  was  pure  in  his  life. 
But  he  was  weak,  indolent,  and,  as  has  often  been 
said,  better    fitted  to  be  a  monk  than  a  king.     As 
Professor  Freeman  pithily  puts  it,  "  So  far  as  a  really 
good  man  can  reproduce  the  character  of  a  thoroughly 
bad  one,  Edward   reproduced    the   character   of  his 
father,  Ethelred."     What  such  a  ruler  may  do  for  the 
country  over  which  he  is  set  will  depend  mainly  upon 
the  hands  into  which  he  falls.     Kings  mostly  fall  into 
bad  hands  ;  and  Edward  was  not  wholly  an  exception 
to  this  rule.      Yet   he  was    more    fortunate    in    this 
respect  than  some    have   been.     Godwin    had   great 
influence  over   him  during   the  earlier   years  of  his 
reign,  and    Harold,  Godwin's  son,  a  greater  during 
the  latter.     Both  were  true  English  patriots  ;  but  the 
King's  personal  preferences  were  always  for  Norman 
advisers.     Normans  were  promoted  to  offices  in  the 
state,  and  high  dignities  in  the  Church  ;  and  the  way 
was  paved  for  that  forcible  usurpation  of  them  which 
was  to  follow  not  many  years  later. 

In  the  year  of  his  coronation,  "fourteen  nights 
before  St.  Andrew's  Mass  [St.  Andrew's  Day  is  Nov. 
30th]   the  King   was   so   advised    that   he   and  Earl 


MAGNUS  CLAIMS   THE   THRONE. 


323 


Leofric,  and    Earl    Godwin,  and    Earl   Siward,  with 
their  attendants,  rode  from  Gloucester  to  Winchester 
unwares   upon    the   lady  [Queen    Emma],  and  they 
bereaved  her  of  all  the  treasures  which  she  owned, 
which  were  not  to  be  told  ;  because  before  she  had 
been  very  hard  to  the  King,  her  son,  inasmuch  as  she 
had  done  less  for  him  than  he  would,  both  before  he 
was  King  and  after.^'     The  Queen  Dowager's  offence 
is  not  very  clear.     It  is  often,  indeed,  reckoned  as  an 
offence  to  be  possessed  of  great  treasures  of  which 
others  stand  in  need.    Doubtless  Emma  of  Normandy 
had  accumulated  great  wealth,  and  was  unwilling  to 
give  up  any  of  it.     Possibly  she  had  favoured  the 
cause   of  her   second   husband's   nephew,  Sweyn  of 
Denmark,  whom  we  have  already  seen  put  in  com- 
petition for  the  crown.     If  so,  with  her  wealth  she 
lost  all  power  of  becoming  dangerous,  for  she  was 
permitted  to  live  quietly  at  Winchester  for  the  rest  of 

her  days.  , 

In  the  following  year  (1043)  a  new  danger  from  the 
North  seemed  to  threaten  England.    Magnus  of  Nor- 
way claimed  the  crown,  his,  he  declared,  by  virtue  of 
an  agreement  which  he  had  made  with  Hard.canute 
that  whoever  of  the  two  should   live  longer  should 
have  the  dominions  of  both.     Edward  flatly  refused 
to  acknowledge  the  claim,  and  got  together  a  fleet  to 
resist  any  attempt  that  might  be  made.     Whether 
Magnus  meditated  any  such  effort  we  do  not  know 
The  Norse  Chronicler  tells  us  that  he  acknowledged 
the  justice  of  Edward's  answer  ;  but  it  is  certam  that 
for  some  time  he  had  enough  to  do  to  defend  h.mself. 
Sweyn,  aided   by   Harold    Hardrada,  of  whom   we 


"*  ■'"■■'■^'^i'jiiiWiifiiiirr.'Mas-^  "^  A..>.M.-ai«.t» 


3^4  BDWARD   THE   CONFESSOR. 

shall   hear  again,'  attacked  him  at  home,  and  the 
invasion  of  England  did  not  take  place. 

In  January,  1045.  one  of  the  objects  of  Earl 
Godwin's  ambition  was  reached,  for  the  King 
married  his  daughter  Edith.  It  was  the  first  of 
many  promotions  in  this  family,  a  family  whose  rise 
and  fall  make  one  of  the  strangest  stories  in  English 
annals.  Godwin  had  six  sons,  whose  names,  arranged 
in  the  probable  order  of  their  birth,  were  Sweyn, 
Harold,  Tostig,  Gurth,  Leofwine,  and  Wulfnoth. 
Sweyn  had  received  his  earldom,  which  comprised 
the  counties  of  Hereford,  Gloucester,  Oxford,  Berk- 
shire, and  Somersetshire,  early  in  Edward's  reign. 
Harold  was  now  advanced  to  the  earldom  of  East 

Anglia.  . 

Sweyn's  was  a  troubled  career,  which  it  may  be 
convenient  briefly  to  relate  in  this  place.     In  1046, 
on   his  return   from  a  campaign  in  Wales,  he   had 
carried  off  the  Abbess  of  Leominster.     He  offered  to 
marry  her,  but   the   offer   was   considered   as   being 
scarcely   a    less   wrong    than   the   original   outrage. 
Sweyn  resigned  his  earldom,  and  crossed  the  seas  to 
find  shelter  with  Baldwin  of  Flanders.     His  earldom 
was  divided  between  Harold  and  his  cousin,  Beorn, 
nephew  of  Gytha,  Earl  Godwin's  wife.    Beorn  already 
ruled  the  counties  of  Hertford,  Bedford,  Huntingdon, 
and  Buckingham,  which  had  been  assigned  to  him  at 
the  same  time  at  which  Harold  received  his  earldom. 
Three    years    afterwards    he   returned   to   England, 
presented  himself  before  the  King,  offered  to  renew 
his  fealty  to  him,  and  begged  that  his  earldom  might 

'  See  p.  356. 


sweyn's  crime. 


325 


be  given  back  to  him.     The  request  might  have  been 
granted,  for  Godwin  was  powerful  with  the  King,  and 
seems  not  to  have  had  many  scruples  when  the  inte- 
rests of  his  own  family  were  concerned,  but  the  two 
earls  between  whom  Sweyn's  own  dominions  had  been 
divided  strongly  opposed  the  request.    It  was  refused 
and  Sweyn  went  back  to  his  ships  which  he  had  lef 
at    Bosham    (a   harbour   in   West    Sussex)       What 
followed  is  somewhat  obscure,  but  the  end  is  only 
too  plain.     Beorn  consented  to  go  with  Sweyn  to  the 
King  at  Sandwich,  probably  to  propose  some  com- 
promise on  which  they  had  agreed.     But  it  was  not 
to  Sandwich  that  they  went.     Sweyn  persuaded  his 
cousin  to  accompany  him  to  his  ships  at   Bosharn 
where  his  presence,  he  said,  would  help  to  Keep  his 
men  from  deserting.     When  the  two  reached  Bosham 
a  proposal  was  made  that  Beorn  should  go  on  board 
the  ships.     This  he  refused  to  do.     Then  Sweyn  s 
men  bound  him,  put  him  into  a  boat,  and  took  h  m 
to  the   ships.      These   carried    him   to    Dartmouth, 
where  he  was  killed  by  Sweyn's  orders     The  body 
was  put  on  shore  and  buried  in  a  church,  but  imme- 
diately afterwards    removed   with    much    pomp    to 

Winchester.  , 

This  pomp  was  a  sign  of  the  indignation  that 
Sweyn's  crime  aroused  throughout  England.  The 
King  and  the  army  declared  the  murderer  to  be 
„../.W,  worthless,  the  most  emphatic  condemnation 
which  could  be  pronounced  on  any  man^  Sweyn  s 
own  ships,  excepting  two,  deserted  him.  The  cnm, 
himself  escaped  to  Baldwin  of  Flanders.  Yet  in  spite 
of  these  misdeeds  he  was  reinstated  in  his  honours 


I 


.:'!ff^^^fif^ 


326 


EDWARD   THE   CONFESSOR, 


in  1051,^  one  of  the  chief  English  bishops  interceding 
in  his  favour.  But  he  did  not  long  keep  the  earldom 
that  was  thus  given  back  to  him.  The  year  of  his 
return  was  the  year  of  that  temporary  overthrow  of 
his  house  which  I  shall  soon  have  to  relate.  He  was 
again  outlawed,  and  though  again  restored,  when  his 
father  regained  his  power,  never  came  back  to  Eng- 
land. His  crime,  if  overlooked  by  others,  was  never 
forgotten  by  himself.  In  the  hope  of  ridding  himself  of 
remorse,  he  went  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land, 
and  died,  as  he  was  on  his  way  back,  in  an  obscure 
spot  in  Asia  Minor.  Such  was  the  end  of  Godwin's 
eldest  son.     I  now  go  back  to  the  thread  of  my  story. 

The  chief  events  in  the  narrative  of  English  affairs 
are  the  request  of  Sweyn  of  Denmark  for  aid  against 
Magnus  and  Harold  Hardrada,  and  the  ravages  of 
various  pirates'  expeditions  from  the  Nortk  Sweyn 
was  backed  in  his  petition  by  Earl  Godwin,  but  failed 
both  in  1047  and  the  following  year  to  obtain  it. 
Between  the  two  requests  his  position  had  greatly 
changed,  for  Magnus  of  Norway  was  dead,  and  had 
bequeathed  to  him  the  kingdom  of  Denmark.  Peace 
was  made  on  the  second  occasion  with  Harold 
Hardrada,  Sweyn's  great  enemy,  now  king  of  Nor- 
way. The  general  voice  of  the  kingdom  seems  to 
have  approved  this  policy  ;  but  it  is  curious  to  find, 
as  we  shall,  some  twenty  years  later,  this  same  Harold 
making  a  claim  on  the  crown  of  England,  and  in- 
vading the  country  to  establish  it. 

The  first  appearance  of  the  pirates  was  in   1048, 
when  two  Danes,  Lothan  and  Girling  by  name,  ap- 

'  See  p.  332. 


I-  «'«^,?4^15''?'^W^^'"*5^'^  '-^ 


XNCLO-SAXON   DR.NK.no   c'.LASS,    .OU^O   AT   ASHFORD.   KENT. 


326 


EDWARD   THE   CONFESSOR, 


in  1051,1  one  of  the  chief  EngHsh  bishops  interceding 
in  his  favour.  But  he  did  not  long  keep  the  earldom 
that  was  thus  given  back  to  him.  The  year  of  his 
return  was  the  year  of  that  temporary  overthrow  of 
his  house  which  I  shall  soon  have  to  relate.  He  was 
again  outlawed,  and  though  again  restored,  when  his 
father  regained  his  power,  never  came  back  to  Eng- 
land. His  crime,  if  overlooked  by  others,  was  never 
forgotten  by  himself  In  the  hope  of  ridding  himself  of 
remorse,  he  went  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land, 
and  died,  as  he  was  on  his  way  back,  in  an  obscure 
spot  in  Asia  Minor.  Such  was  the  end  of  Godwin's 
eldest  son.     I  now  go  back  to  the  thread  of  my  story. 

The  chief  events  in  the  narrative  of  English  affairs 
are  the  request  of  Sweyn  of  Denmark  for  aid  against 
Magnus  and  Harold  Hardrada,  and  the  ravages  of 
various  pirates'  expeditions  from  the  North.  Sweyn 
was  backed  in  his  petition  by  Earl  Godwin,  but  failed 
both  in  1047  and  the  following  year  to  obtain  it. 
Between  the  two  requests  his  position  had  greatly 
changed,  for  Magnus  of  Norway  was  dead,  and  had 
bequeathed  to  him  the  kingdom  of  Denmark.  Peace 
was  made  on  the  second  occasion  with  Harold 
Hardrada,  Sweyn's  great  enemy,  now  king  of  Nor- 
way. The  general  voice  of  the  kingdom  seems  to 
have  approved  this  policy  ;  but  it  is  curious  to  find, 
as  we  shall,  some  twenty  years  later,  this  same  Harold 
making  a  claim  on  the  crown  of  England,  and  in- 
vading the  country  to  establish  it. 

The  first   appearance  of  the  pirates  was  in    1048, 
when  two  Danes,  Lothan  and  Girling  by  name,  ap- 

'  See  p.  332. 


I 


•s,''/ 


«m^f^i^^j(;ifM^. 


'-•1'  Cr'-'-yj-^:       ■"''f.:C'^'^   fi:y.iBr^m'asgW"^«f^ 


I 


XNCLO-SAXON    L-RINRING   GLASS,    FOUND   AT  ASHFORD,    KENT. 


328 


EDWARD   THE  CONFESSOR. 


peared  off  the  south  coast  of  England  with  five-and- 
tvventy  ships.  They  landed  at  Sandwich,  and  carried 
off  a  great  booty,  and  then,  sailing  westward,  harried 
the  Isle  of  Wight.  Afterwards  we  find  them  ravaging 
the  coast  of  Essex.  By  this  time  the  King  and  his 
earls  had  collected  a  fleet.  But  it  was  too  late.  The 
pirates  sailed  away,  and  reached  in  safety  the  harbours 

of  Flanders. 

In  the  following  year  another  Danish  fleet,  this 
time  from  the  settlements  of  that  race  in  Ireland, 
appeared  off  the  English  coast,  and  sailed  up  the 
Bristol  Channel.  King  Griffith  of  Wales  gladly  made 
alliance  with  them,  and  in  their  company  mvaded 
England.  In  default,  it  would  seem,  of  any  lay 
leader,  Ealdred,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  hastily  raised 
a  force  from  Gloucestershire  and  Herefordshire.  But 
the  Herefordshire  men  were  probably  in  great  part 
Welsh  in  race  and  sympathy.  Anyhow,  there  were 
traitors  in  the  camp.  A  message  was  conveyed  to 
Griffith  suggesting  an  attack.  Early  in  the  morning 
the  Welsh  prince  and  his  Danish  allies  fell  upon  the 
camp,  and  the  bishop  had  to  fly  for  his  life. 

This  seeming  revival  of  Danish  piracy  did  not, 
however,  prevent  the  repeal  of  a  tax  of  which  we 
have  already  heard  several  times  under  its  name  of 
Danegeld.     This  repeal  took  place  in  1050. 

The  next  year  a  great  revolution  was  effected. 
Earl  Godwin  was  banished  from  England.  Edward's 
sister,  Godgiva,  or  Goda,  had  taken  as  her  second 
husband,  Eustace,  Count  of  Boulogne.  This  noble- 
man now  came  on  a  visit  to  his  brother-in-law.  On 
his  way  back  to  his  own  country  he  passed  through 


BANISHMENT  OF  EARL  GODWIN.  32^ 

the  town  of  Dover.     His  train  had  armed  themselves 
before  entering  the  town,  probably  anticipating  the 
unfriendly  reception  which  they  got.     The  townsnnen 
refused    to   give    them   quarters,   according    to   one 
account.     According  to   another,  they  behaved    as 
though  they  could  deal  at   their  pleasure  with   the 
property  of  the  inhabitants.    Whatever  the  cause 
a  quarrel   arose.      A   Frank   wounded   a  citizen   o 
Dover,   and   was   slain   by  him.     A  serious   conflict 
followed.     Many  were  slain  on  both  sides,  and  finally 
the  Franks  were  expelled  from  the  town.     Eustace 
made  his  way  to  Edward,  who  was  at  Gloucester,  and 
,  complained  of  the  conduct  of  the  ^'^^'^^-^'^'f,^^^;'': 
and  Edward,  seemingly  without  waiting  to  hear  the 
other  side,  sent  an  order  to  Earl  Godwin  to  pun.h 
the  town.     Godwin  refused  to  obey,  and  in  his  turn 
aid  before  the  King  the  grievances  which  the  English 
people   had   against   the  foreigners,  who   were   now 
beginning   to   hold   many   high   dignities,   civd   and 
ecclesiastlal,  throughout  the  kingdom,  and  who  r^ot 
unfrequently  behaved  with  much  insolence    The  king 
was  ill  disposed  to  listen  to  these  complaints.     Ac- 
Tording  to  one  account,  Robert  the  Norman.  Arch- 
Jshop  of  Canterbury,  was  especially  active  in  turning 
hirn   against   Godwin.     Once   more   the  old   charge 
of  halg  brought  about  the  death  of  the  Atheling 
Alfred  was  brought  up  against  him.  Godwin  demanded 
fn  audience  for  himself  and  his  sons    Je  o^ered  to 
clear  himself  on  oath  in  the  matter  '^^  .flfred^    The 
Kin<.  refused  both  requests.     Meanwhile   a  General 
A  sembly  had  been  ordered  to  meet  at  Gloucester. 
Godwt  and  his  sons  came  with  an  armed  force  to 


.  ^^^.' 


330 


EDWARD   THE   CONFESSOR. 


support  their  claims,  though   they  did    not  actually 
enter  the  city.    The  northern  earls,  on  the  other  hand, 
attended  to  support  the  King.    Godwin's  demand  was 
that  Count  Eustace  and  other  Frenchmen  should  be 
handed   over  to   him.     The  demand  was   of  course 
refused.     Still  peace  was  preserved,  and  the  assembly 
was   adjourned   for   a   month   to   meet   at    London. 
Once  more  Godwin  and  his  sons  attended  in  force, 
this  time  taking  up  a  position  at  Southwark.    Leofric 
of  Mercia   and    the  other  northern    earls  were   also 
present.     But    Godwin's    men    began    to   leave   him. 
He  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the    assembly. 
His  demand   for  hostages  who  were   to  ensure   his 
safety  was  refused,  and  he  and  his  sons  were  ordered 
to  leave  the  kingdom  within  five  days.     He  hastened 
with  his  wife  and  his  sons,  Sweyn,  Tostig,  and  Gurth, 
to  his  estates  in  Sussex,  and  from  thence  embarked 
with  all  the  treasure  that  he  could  collect,  and  sought 
refuge  in  Flanders.     Harold  and  another  brother  fled 
to   Ireland.     So  complete  was   the  downfall   of  the 
house  of  Godwin  that  Edward   sent   away  his  own 
wife,  who  was  committed  to  the  charge  of  the  Abbess 
of  Wherwell.     The  Norman  party  hastened  to  secure 
the  spoil.     A  Saxon  bishop  was  expelled  from  the 
see  of  London  to  make  room  for  a  Norman.    Another 
Norman,   Oddo   by  name,  had   the  earldom   of  the 
western   counties,   the   region    that   had   been    West 
Wales   in   the   past,   bestowed    on    him.      Harold's 
earldom  of  East  Anglia  was  given  to  the  son  of  one 
of  the  King's  chief  supporters,  Leofric  of  Mercia. 


XXX. 

THE  SUPREMACY  OF   HAROLD. 

THE  banishment  of  Godwin  and  his  family  did  not 
las    very  long.     A  great  part  of  England,  and  that 
p    t  tZ  richest  and  most  civilised   was  strong  ym 
favour  of  them.     It   was   only  by  the   help  of  the 
oXm  earls  that  the  King  had  P-aned  over  the- 
and  the  northern  earls  could  not  always  be  a    hand 
to  suooort  him  against  the  people  m  the  m  dst  ol 
lUTrdwelt.  ^Godwin  petitioned  to  be  allowed 
to   return  •    Baldwin   of  Flanders   and   the  Kmg  ot 
France  sent  embassies  on  his  behalf.     Edward  would 
nri  sten  to  them.     He  had  his  favourite  Normans 
old  him.  and  he  knew  that  if  Godwin  returned  h 
=Kr.nW   have  to  part  with   many   of    them,      inen 
Godwin  t  id  Le.    Harold  and  Leofwine  his  brother 
Sled  from  Ireland,  and  landed  in  Somersetshire.     A 
ha    y  Tvy  of  the  country  people  was  raised  to  meet 
them      Harold  was  victorious  in  the  battle  that  fol- 
lo^d.  a"nd  as  many  as  thirty  thanes^n  the  beaten 
side  were  slain.     It  was  an  unlucky  affair,  and  cou.a 
not  have  helped   the  cause  of. the  Godwm   family. 
ProbabW  Harold  had   landed   to  collect  provisions, 
I^d  was  compelled  to  fight  in  self-defence-     Mean- 
while Godwin  had   been   trying   the  temper  of  the 


t'irfisfai&iSgftgais'atf.tMSBfe'^ 


33^ 


THE   SUPREMACY  OF  HAROLD. 


people   in    South-eastern    England,    and   had   found 
it  to  be  strongly  in  his  favour.     He  then  sailed  west- 
ward to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where  he  was  joined  by 
Harold  and  Leofwine.     They  then  turned  eastward 
again  with  their  united  fleets,  and   sailed  along  the 
coast,  enlisting  followers  as  they  went,  and  seizing 
the  ships  that  they  found  in  the  Kentish  harbours. 
Their  next  proceeding  was   to  sail  up  the  Thames 
as  far  as  London.     There  he  occupied  the  southern 
bank  of  the  river,  the  northern  being  held    by  the 
King's   fleet   of    fifty   ships,   and    by   a   land   army, 
numerous  indeed,  but  not  over  zealous  for  its  side. 
Godwin  was  naturally  anxious  to  avoid  bloodshed. 
There  had  already  been  enough  of  that  in  Somerset- 
shire.    He  sent  a  message  to  the  King  again  asking 
for  the  restoration  of  the  honours  and  possessions  of 
his  family.     Again  the  King  refused  ;  but  in  London 
he   had  about  him  other  men   besides  his  Norman 
favourites,  men  who  could  read  the  signs  of  the  times. 
Stigand,  the  mass  priest,  whom  Canute  had  settled  at 
Assandune,^  and  who  was  now  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
was  one  of  them.     By  their  advice  negotiations  were 
opened,  and  hostages,  the  usual  pledge  of  good  faith 
in  those  days  of  violence,  were  given  on  both  sides. 
The  Normans  saw  that  their  cause  was  lost  and  has- 
tened to  escape.     Robert,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
William,  Bishop  of  London,  and  others,  cut  their  way 
through  the  crowd,  fled  to  Walton-on-the-Naze  (the 
shorter  route  through  Kent  was  closed  against  them), 
and  there  "  lighted  on  a  crazy  ship,  and  betook  them- 
selves at  once  over  the  sea." 

*  See  p.  298. 


I   i 


33^ 


THE   SUPREMACY  OF  HAROLD. 


people   in    South-eastern    England,    and   had   found 
it  to  be  strongly  in  his  favour.     He  then  sailed  west- 
ward to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where  he  was  joined  by 
Harold  and  Leofwine.     They  then  turned  eastward 
again  with  their  united  fleets,  and    sailed  along  the 
coast    enlisting  followers  as  they  went,  and   seizing 
the  ships  that  they  found  in  the  Kentish  harbours. 
Their  next  proceeding  was   to  sail   up  the  Thames 
as  far  as  London.     There  he  occupied  the  southern 
bank  of  the  river,  the  northern   being  held    by  the 
King's   fleet   of    fifty   ships,   and    by   a   land   army, 
numerous  indeed,  but  not  over  zealous  for  its  side. 
Godwin  was  naturally  anxious  to  avoid  bloodshed. 
There  had  already  been  enough  of  that  m  Somerset- 
shire.    He  sent  a  message  to  the  King  again  asking 
for  the  restoration  of  the  honours  and  possessions  of 
his  family.     Again  the  King  refused  ;  but  in  London 
he   had   about  him  other  men   besides  his  Norman 
favourites,  men  who  could  read  the  signs  of  the  times. 
Stigand,  the  mass  priest,  whom  Canute  had  settled  at 
Assandune,!  and  who  was  now  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
was  one  of  them.     By  their  advice  negotiations  were 
opened,  and  hostages,  the  usual  pledge  of  good  faith 
in  those  days  of  violence,  were  given  on  both  sides. 
The  Normans  saw  that  their  cause  was  lost  and  has- 
tened to  escape.     Robert,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
William,  Bishop  of  London,  and  others,  cut  their  way 
through  the  crowd,  fled  to  W^alton-on-the-Naze  (the 
shorter  route  through  Kent  was  closed  against  them), 
and  there  "  lighted  on  a  crazy  ship,  and  betook  them- 
selves at  once  over  the  sea." 

^  See  p.  298. 


» 


334  ^^^   SUPREMACY  OF  HAROLD. 

There  was  now   nothing  to  hinder  Godwin's  re- 
storation.     At  a  great  assembly,  held  in  London,  he 
declared  on  oath  his   innocence  of   all  the  charges 
which  had  been  brought  against  him.     Then  he  was 
formally  restored,  and  his  earldom  was  given  back  to 
him,  as  was  Harold's  to  him.  The  Queen  was  brought 
back  from  the  nunnery  to  which  she  had  been  sent, 
and  the  King  "  gave  her  all  that  she  before  owned. 
«  Archbishop  Robert  was  without  reserve  declared  an 
outlaw,  and  all   the   Frenchmen,  because   they  had 
chiefly  made  discord  between  Earl  Godwin  and  the 
King  "     Stigand,  of  Winchester,  was  promoted  to  the 
archbishopric,   an    irregular    proceeding    which     we 
shall  find  afterwards  to  have  been  the  cause  of  much 

trouble. 

The  great  earl  did  not  live  long  after  his  restoration. 
On  the  Monday  in  Easter  week  (April   I2th)  in  the 
following   year   (1053)    he   was   seized  with    sudden 
sickness  as  he  sat  at  the  King's  table,  and  died  on  the 
Thursday  following.     It  was  a  paralytic  stroke,  for, 
as  the  Chronicler  describes  the  event,  "  he  suddenly 
sank  down  by  the  King's  footstool,  deprived  of  all 
speech  and  power."     Writers  who  favoured  the  cause 
of   the  Normans  did    not    of  course    pass  by  this 
opportunity  of  maligning  the  great    English  cham- 
pion.    The  story  which  they  told  of  his  death  was 
this.     The  King's  cupbearer,  as  he  was  offering  the 
wihe   slipped   with  one  foot  and   recovered   himself 
with' the  other.     "  Thus  brother  helps  brother,"  cried 
Godwin.    "  Yes,"  cried  the  King,  "  and  if  you  had  not 
slain   my  brother  Alfred,  so  would  he  have  helped 


DEATH  OF  GODWIN. 


335 


me. 


I) 


Then  Godwin  swore  that  he  was  innocent  ot 


the  Atheling's  death.  "  If  1  had  aught  to  do  with  .t,_ 
he  affirmed,  "  may  this  morsel  of  bread  choke  me. 
Thereupon  the  King  blessed  the  bread,  and  God wm 
was  choked  in  attempting  to  swallow  it  We  may 
safely  pronounce  all  this  to  be  fiction.'  ^°f  TJ^' 
then  more  than  sixty  years  old.  He  had  had  a 
stormy  life,  and  nothing  is  more  likely  than  that  ,t 
should  be  brought  to  a  sudden  end  by  a  stroke  of  this 

^'"Harold  succeeded  his  father  in  the  Earldom  of 
Wessex  His  own  earldom  was  bestowed  on  A-llgar, 
son  of  Leofric.  Not  long  after  the  family  power  was 
increased  by  the  promotion  of  Tostig,  the  next 
brother,  to  the  Earldom  of  Northumbna,  vacant  by 
the  death  of  Siward  the  Strong. 

Siward,  not  long  before,  had  penetrated  mto  Scot- 
land, as  far  as  Aberdeenshire  and  had  there  won  a 
great  victory  over  a  combined  force  of  Scots   and 
Normans,  under  the  Macbeth  to  whom  Shakespeare 
has  given  so  sinister  a  fame.    The  victory  had  cost 
him  his  son,  Osbern,  and  his  nephew  and  namesake, 
Siward  the  Younger.     He  received  the  tidmgs  of  h.s 
son's  death  with  characteristic  firmness.       Where  . 
his  death-wound  ?  "  he  asked  ;  when  he  heard  that  it 
was  in  front,  he  said,  "  I  rejoice  ;  no  other  death  is 
worthy  of  my  son  or  me."     It  was  not,  however,  h.s 
own  lot  thus  to  pass  away.     A  mortal  sickness  came 
upon  him,  and  it  seemed  likely  that  he  must  d.e  m  h,s 
bed      This,  at  least,  he  could  avoid.     "  I  feel  shame, 
he  cried,  "  not  to  have  fallen  in  one  of  the  many 

.  Professlr  Freeman  gives  an  interesting  study  of  the  growth  of  the 
legend  ("  History  of  the  Norman  Conquest,"  u.  635-640). 


■  —  jftJMK-iiiffiiisai^aaag^iiai&j  ^,tr-.i.^7.T:.«.?>t-.-:t| 


336 


THE   SUPREMACY  OF  HAROLD. 


battles  that  I  have  fought,  and  to  have  been  preserved 
to  die  like  a  cow.  Close  me  in  my  mail  of  proof,  gird 
my  sword  on  me,  fit  the  helmet  on  my  head,  and  put 
a  shield  in  my  left  hand,  and  a  gilded  axe  m  my 
right,  that  I  may  die  like  a  soldier." 

''Before    Siward's    death    there   had   passed   away 
another  Englishman,  not  notable  in  himself,  but  who, 
had  he  lived,  might  have  altered  the  course  of  English 
affairs.     This   was    the    Atheling    Edward,    son    of 
Edmund  Ironsides.     He  had  lived  in  Hungary  since 
the  accession  of  Canute,  and  had  married  a  niece  of 
the  Emperor  Henry  HI.'     He  had  come  over  with 
his  wife  and  children.     The  hope  that  a  successor  to 
the   throne   might   be   found   in    this  descendant  of 
Alfred  was  disappointed,  for  Edward  died  suddenly 
in   London.     This  was  in   1057-     The  event  cleared 
Harold's  way  to  the  crown  ;  but  no  one   has  ven- 
tured to  charge  him  with  having  had  a  hand  in  it. 
It  was  not  the  less  a  disaster  to  England,  if  indeed  we 
ought  to  so  describe  one  of  the  causes  that  led  to  the 
Norman  Conquest. 

In  the  following  year  (1058)  Harold  visited  Rome, 
and  obtained  from  Benedict  the  pall  for  Archbishop 
Stigand.  Unfortunately,  Benedict  himself  was  an 
usurper,  and  was  shortly  afterwards  expelled  from  the 
Chair  of  St.  Peter's,  so  that  Stigand's  position  was 
not  permanently  improved. 

Several  years  may  be  now  passed  over,  till  we 
come  to  Harold's  campaign  against  the  Welsh  in 
1063.  It  will  be  convenient  to  give  in  this  place  a 
brief  account  of  the  relations  between  the  Welsh  and 

■  See  p.  296. 


THE   WELSH  BURN  HEREFORD. 


337 


their  English  neighbours  during  the  thirteen  years 
preceding  the  settlement  that  was  now  to  be  effected. 
In  1050  Griffith,  King  of  North  Wales,  in  conjunction 
with  some  marauders  from  Ireland,  had  crossed  the 
Wye  and  defeated  a  force  which  Bishop  Ealdred  of 
Worcester  had  collected  to  meet  them.     In  the  year 
of  Godwin's  banishment   Griffith  had   renewed   his 
ravages,  and  had  defeated  with  great  loss  a  Norman 
force  which  issued  from  the  Castle  of  Leominster  to 
attack  him.     Three  years  afterwards  he  found  an  ally 
in  ^Ifgar.  son  of  Leofric,  of  Mercia,  who  had  been 
outlawed,  and  had  raised  a  piratical  force  in  Ireland. 
The   two  invaded    Herefordshire,  and  were  met  by 
Radulf,    the    Norman    earl    of   the   West   country. 
Radulf  mounted  his  English  troops   on   horseback. 
This  was  a  kind  of  fighting  to  which  they  were  not 
accustomed,  and  their  lines   were   speedily  broken 
Whether  thev  carried  away  their  Norman  and  French 
comrades  in  their  flight,  or  whether  the  latter  were  the 
first  to  leave  their  ground,  we  cannot  say      Anyhow, 
the  English  army  fled  almost  without  stnkmg  a  blow. 
Griffith  and  ^Ifgar  now  entered  Hereford  and  burnt 
both  the  city  and  the  cathedral.     They  then  returned 
to  Wales  with  a  great  quantity  of  booty  and  long 
trains  of  prisoners.     Harold  meanwhile  had  collected 
an  army  and   followed   the  enemy  into  their  own 
country.    Griffith  retired  into  South  Wales. 

The  year  following,  though  he  had  lost  ^Ifgar,  who 
had  meanwhile  been  restored  to  his  earldom  he  agam 
invaded  England,  and  was  again   successful.    This 
ime  he   met  and  vanquished   Leofgar.  the  newly- 
appointed  Bishop  of  Hereford,  who  had  put  himself 


il 


338       THE  SUPREMACY  OF  HAROLD. 

at  the  head  of  the  English  forces.  The  end  of  this 
Lmpaign  was  a  peace.  Griffith  sweanng  o  yield 
henc'efonh  a  peaceful  homage  to  Kmg  Edwa  d^ 

The  oeace  was  soon  broken.  In  1058  vElfgar  was 
aglin  bached,  again  allied  hirnself  to  Griffith  who 
seems  to  have  married  his  daughter),  and  again 
recovered  his  earldom  by  his  help. 

In   1063  Harold  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  these 
troubl^meincursions.    Todothishe  felt  that  he  must 
carry   he  war  into  the  enemy's  country.     He  equipped 
S  men  in  a  way  that  would  make  them  a  better  match 
I  speed  andagility  for  the  nimble  mountaineers.    They 
carried  light  spears  ;  their  helmets  and  -^       -- 
of  leather.     Thus  armed,  they  pursued  the  Welsh  into 
the  defies  and  hollows  of  Snowdon.     Harold  made 
hi  vvay  through  Wales  to  Bristol,  where  he  took  ship 
d  sailed  ro^nd  the  coast.  Earl  Tostig  m^an^he 
ravaging  the  country  with  his  cavalry.     The  Welsh 
were  ^orouc^hly  cowed.     Griffith  escaped  for  the  time. 
Lt  the  next  year  was  murdered  by  his  subjects,  who 
sent  his  head  and  the  beak  of  his  ship  to  the  Eng  ish 
king.     His  half-brothers  were  appointed  sub-kings  of 

Wales  in  his  place.  ,     c  r-  -ffifV, 

It  is  probably  to  the  year  after  the  death  of  Griffith 
,• .  to  io64,  that  we  must  assign  a  strange  incident, 
ttelf  it  wodd  seem,  the  result  of  the  merest  chance, 
f  he  be  such  a  thing  as  chance,  which  had  yet  a 
tron<^  influence  on  the  after- fortunes  of  Harold  and  of 
England.  Of  this  incident  more  than  one  version  is 
Jen  ;  indeed,  it  is  assigned  to  more  than  one  time 
?  feel  safe  in  following  the  preference  which  Professor 
Freeman  has  given  to  the  story  that  follows. 


1 


Si<'> 


j^eaariJaBJiwUliii 


338  THE   SUPREMACY  OF  HAROLD. 

at  the  head  of  the  English  forces.  The  end  of  tWs 
Campaign  was  a  peace,  Griffith  sweanngo  y.eld 
henceforth  a  peaceful  homage  to  Ku  g  Edua  d 

The  peace  was  soon  broken.  ^'\'°=^/^^f^\2l 
acain  banished,  again  allied  himself  to  Gr.ffith  (who 
Sems  to  have  married  his  daughter),  and  agam 
recovered  his  earldom  by  his  help. 

In   1063  Harold  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  these 
in   luuj  1  T^.in  this  he  felt  that  he  must 

troublesome  mcurs.ons.    To  do  th,s  he  •       j 

carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country.  He  equipped 
h  s  men  in  a  way  that  would  make  them  a  better  ma  ch 
Lpeedandagilityforthenimblemountameers.    -n.ey 

carded  light  spears  ;  their  helmets  and  -rs^       -  - 

nf  leather      Thus  armed,  they  pursued  the  We  sh  mto 

:;    defi  es  and  hollows  of  Snowdon.     Harold  made 

his  way  through  Wales  to  Bristol,  where  he  took  sh  p 

and  sa'led  round  the  coast.  Earl  Tost.g  rneanwh  e 

ravagincr  the  country  with  his  cavalry.     The  Welsh 

were   horou^Wy  cowed.     Griffith  escaped  for  the  t.me. 

but  the  nex^  year  was  murdered  by  his  subjects,  vvho 

se  t  his  head  and  the  beak  of  his  ship  to  the  Enghsh 

king.     His  half-brothers  were  appomted  sub-kmgs  ot 

Wales  in  his  place.  ,     r  n    axtu 

It  is  probably  to  the  year  after  the  death  of  Gr.ffith 
,•;  to  .064,  that  we  must  assign  a  strange  mc.dent, 
Keif  it  would  seem,  the  result  of  the  merest  chance, 
t;      be  such  a  thing  as  chance,  which  had  yet  a 
ronl  influence  on  the  after-fortunes  of  Harold  and  of 
England.     Of  this  incident  more  than  one  vers.on  .s 
givL  ;  indeed,  it  is  assigned  to  more  than  one  .m. 
!  feel  safe  in  following  the  preference  wh.ch  Professor 
Freeman  has  given  to  the  story  that  follows. 


340       THE  SUPREMACY  OF  HAROLD. 

Harold,  then,  it  seems,  sometime  in  the  latter  part 
of  this  year,  set  out  on  what  we  should  call  a  yacht- 
L  t  p  in  the  English  Channel.     He  had  three  ships 
:KL;.  and  ca5ed  dogs  and  hawks  for  purposes 
of  =port.    Bad   weather   drove  h.m  to  the  coast  ot 
Ponfhieu,  and  on  that  coast  he  seems  to  have  been 
wrecked.     A  fisherman,  who  happened  to  know  h.m 
by  sight,  hastened   to   Count   Guy,  and   offered   for 
twenty  pounds  to  show  him  a  prisoner  who  would  be 
willing  to  pay  a  hundred   pounds  for  h,s   ranso^^ 
The  ?ount  rode  to  the  coast,  ordered  Harold  to  be 
seized   and  carried  him  to  one  of  h.s  mland  fortresses 
BToneof  his  attendants  contrived  to  escape   and 
n^aking  his  way  to  Count  William  of  Normandy  at 
his  pa^ce  in  Rouen,  told  him  how  Count  Guy  had 
hospitably  seized  his  master.    WiH^m,  we  may  be 
sure,  was  nut  sorry  to  hear  of  what  had  happened  and 
had  no  doubt  what  was  to  be  done  at  once  whatever 
might  follow  afterwards.    A  messenger  was  despatched 
in   hot   haste   to   Guy,  to   demand,  w.th  threats,  .f 
necessary,  the  liberation  of  this  prisoner.     This  was 
a  request  to  which  Guy,  inspired,  as  were  the  rest  of 
William's  neighbours,  with  no  little  awe  of  h,s  powe 
at  once  yielded.     He   took   his   prisoner  out  of  h.s 
dungeon,  and  rode  with  him  to  En,  where  he  met 
the   Duke.     His  prompt  obedience  was  handsome  y 
rewarded.     As  for  Harold,  he  soon  found  that  he  had 
to  pay  a  price  for  his  liberty  much  heav.er  than  any 
ransom   which   Count   Guy  could   have  thought  of 

^'"por'Ttime  the  Duke  seemed  to  think  of  nothing 
but  doing  his  guest  all  the  honours  that  he  could  th.nk 


HAROLD  FALLS  INTO    WILLIAM'S  HANDS.     34I 

of    Tournaments    were    held   to  amuse    him.     He 
lived  on   the   most   friendly  terms  with  the  Duke's 
family.     It  is  even  said  that  he  was  engaged  to  marry 
one  of  the  Duke's  daughters,  then,  it  is  true,  young 
children,  and  that   he   promised   to   give  his   sister 
Elgiva  in  marriage  to  a  Norman  noble.     He  received 
knighthood  at  the  hands  of  his  host,  and  accompanied 
him  on  an  expedition  against  the  men  of  Brittany. 
It  was  on  his  return  from  this  war  that  the  English- 
man found  that  he  had  to  pay  the  price  for  all  these 
pleasures.     Something  more  than  his  own  marr.age 
to  a  Norman  princess,  or  the  giving  of  his  sister  to  a 
Norman,  was   asked   of  him.     He   was   to   become 
"Duke    William's    man,"    to   acknowledge  h.m   as 
Edward's  heir  in  the  kingdom  of  England,  and  to 
look  after   his    interests  as   long  as   Edward  lived. 
Other  things,  too,  that  have  a  quite  impossible  look, 
such  as  the  immediate  surrender  of  Dover  Castle,  are 
said  to  have  been  demanded. 

Harold    had    no    choice   but  to  yield.     He  was 
virtually  a  prisoner,  however  comfortable  his  prison, 
and  there  were  no  means  of  escape.     Accordingly  he 
made  the  promises  demanded,  and  confirmed  them 
with  an  oath.    And  here  comes  in  the  strangest  part 
of  this  strange  story.     A  common  oath  would  not  be 
enough.      Some  unusual   sanction   must    be    added 
which  would  make  perjury  too  dreadful  a  crime  to  be 
thought  of.    This  addition  William  cunningly  con- 
trived to  make   without  Harold's  knowledge.     The 
Englishman  swore,  as  he  thought,  a  simple  oath  on  the 
Gospels.     But  the  Gospels  rested  on  a  chest  which 
had  been  filled  with  the  relics  of  saints,  the  holiest 


AM 


tf*et(3juf^    i^^p*,.  ■*«'-''' 


^^jgjjiaw«MWi^W*^^*^ 


If! 


THE   SUPREMACY  OF  HAROLD. 


BANISHMENT   OF  TOSTIG. 


343 


342 

that  the  Du.e  could  find  >"  alUhe  landof  N-^^^^^^^^ 

It  is  said  that  Harold  turned  pale  and  trembled 

he  saw  what  he  had  ""'--^f  =^^/^°r,,e  uncertain  ; 
This  is  the  story.     All  Us  deta.i 

3o.e  of  then,  -y  rfs  ^^rlS^'^^r  it.  and 
n,ay  be  sure  *at  there  ^^°  .^^  consequences, 

that  this  voyage  of  Harold  jv'^  ^^  ^.^  ^.^^ 

was  one  of  the  most  disastrous  in 

.    !,,„»  its  <ihare  in  workmg  out  the  trageuy 
was  to  have  its  share  in  8  ^^^.^^^ 

^rSl  of  a  hair-D,ni.h  e.rldojn  and  a  w»r  „a. 
to  To,.ig  mish,  easily  have  Med  ."  *«  <«*^ 

rrr.':L^:X-:dr  .oiTiL ». 


to  work  He  was  impatient  of  opposition,  wanting 
in  sympathy,  and  ready  to  use  violence  when  h,s  will 
was  thwarted.  And  his  favour  at  Court  took  him 
away  from  his  duties.  When  at  home  he  was  harsh 
and  exacting,  and  when  absent  he  left  his  territories 
to  take  care  of  themselves.' 

The  crisis  came  in  1065,  when  two  Northumbrian 
nobles  were  murdered  by  Tostig's  orders,  one  of  them 
at  the  royal  court  (of  his  death  Queen  Edgiva  is  said 
to  have  been  guilty),  the  other  in  his  own  chamber  at 
York      The    Northumbrians   rose   against   the   earl, 
slaughtered  a  number  of  his  house  carles  and  retainers, 
deposed  him,  and  chose  Morcar,  son  of  ^Ifgar,  to  be 
earl  in  his  stead.     Harold  had  a  meeting  with  the 
insurgents  at  Oxford.     He   heard   their  complaints 
was  satisfied,  it   would   seem,  of  their  justice   and 
undertook  to  support  them  before  the  King.     Edward 
was  at  first  eager  to  restore  his  favourite  by  force  of 
arms      But  his  counsellors  were  against  him  and  at 
last  he  yielded  to  their  advice.     Tostig  was  formally 
deprived  of  his  earldom  and  banished.     He  fled  to 
Baldwin,  Count  of  Flanders,  and  forthwith  began  to 
form    plans    for    revenge.     We   cannot   doubt   that 
Harold  had  done  his  duty  to  his  fellow  countrymen 
and  his  king ;  but  he  had  made  an  enemy,  and  an 
enemy,  as  we  shall  see,  of  the  most  dangerous  kind. 
.  They  were  invaded  by  Malcolm  of  Scotland  on  two  occasions  ( 1059. 

106 1 ). 


iji^,*sv^^-5t^!ai^-' ■*■    rf''^i'#i^-r' 


XXXI. 

WILLIAM  OF  NORMANDY. 

I  HAVE  had  occasion,  more  than  once,  to  speak  of 
William  of  Normandy.  It  now  becomes  necessary 
to  say  something  about  him,  to  state  briefly  who  he 
was  and  what  was  his  position.  To  estimate  his 
character  as  a  ruler,  and  to  describe  what  harm,  what 
good  he  did  to  this  country  does  not  fall  within  my 
province  as  the  writer  of  the  "  Story  of  Early  Eng- 
land." 

William  was  born  in  the  year  1028.     His  father 
was  Robert,  then  Count  of  the   Hiesmois,  but  very 
shortly  to  become,  by  the  death  of  Richard  the  Good, 
Duke  of   Normandy.      His   mother   was   a   certain 
Arietta  or  Herleva,  daughter  of  Fulbert,  the  tanner 
of  Falaise.     Marriage  there  could  not  be  between  the 
Duke  of  Normandy  and  the  daughter  of  a  mechanic, 
but  Robert  was  faithful  to  the  woman  whom  he  had 
loved  as  long  as  he  lived.     After  his  death  Herleva 
married  a  Norman  gentleman  of  good  repute.    The 
child,  even  before  his  birth,  was  marked  out,  it  was 
said,  by   his   mother's  dreams,  for  future  greatness. 
As  soon  as  he  saw  the  light,  he  gave  a  proof  of  his 
vigour,  seizing  the  straw  with  which,  it  is  interesting 


THE  NORMAN  SUCCESSION. 


345 


to  find,  the  ducal  chamber  was  carpeted,  with  a  sturdy 
<rrasp      Duke  Robert  lost  no  time  in  securmg  tor  the 
child  the  succession  to  his  crown      Kinsmen  he  had  ; 
but  there  were  objections  to  all  of  them.     The  nearest 
heir  was  his  uncle,  Robert,  Archbishop  of  Rouen  ; 
but  then  a  Churchman  could  hardly  succeed  to  the 
dukedom.     Others  were  related  only  on  the  mother  s 
side      Others,  again,  were  of  doubtful  birth,  scarcely 
more  entitled  to  be  called  legitimate  than  the  mfant 
William  himself     Such  were  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  and  they  made  Duke  Robert's  scheme,  unlikely 
as  it'  seemed,  possible  of  achievement.     He  seems  to 
have  worked  at  it  for  several  years  doing  what  he 
could  to  win  over  his  nobles  to  accept  it.     At  length, 
when  the  boy  was  six  or  seven  years  old,  he  announced 
it  to  an  assembly  of  notables.     He  was  himself  going, 
he  said,  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land,  a  perilous 
journey,  from  which  it  was  probable  that  he  might 
never  return.     It  was  necessary,  before  he  started,  to 
settle  the  question  of  his  succession.     To  the  sensible 
advice  of  his  subjects  that  he  should  stop  at  home, 
and  do  his  duty  in  governing  his  dukedom,  he  re- 
turned  a   resolute   refusal.     Then   he  produced   the 
boy  one  of  their  own  stock,  he  said,  who  would  soon 
mend,  if  God  pleased,  of  the  fault  of  youth.'     The 
Norman  nobles  were  in  a  strait.    They  could  not  keep 
the  duke  at  home  if  he  was  minded  to  go,  and  it  was 
perfectly  true  that  the  succession   must  be  settled 
before  he  started.    Then  there  was  no  other  candi- 

«  "  U  est  peti,  mais  il  creistra, 
E,  se  Deu  plaist,  amendera," 
are  the  words  which  the  story-teller  puts  into  his  mouth. 


I 


i 


■^^^^ssfss 


■J  .--'w.  f^-fe*3*»st  -^j«a*'**i^*'- 


I 


346 


WILLIAM  OF  NORMANDY. 


date  upon  whom  they  could  agree.  Under  these 
circumstances  they  took  what  was  the  easiest  and 
pleasantest  course,  and  accepted  the  boy  W.lham  as 
the  heir  of  the  dukedom.  He  was  taken  to  Pans, 
and  there  swore  fealty  to  the  King.  Duke  Robert 
set  out  on  his  pilgrimage,  reached  Jerusalem,  and 
died  on  his  return  at  Nicaea.' 

In  1035,  then,  William,  then  seven  years  old,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  rule  of  about  as  turbulent  a  peop  e  as 
was  to  be  found  in  the  world.     He  had  guardians 
and  counsellors,  among  whom  were  some  of  his  kins- 
men   and,  it  may  be  said,  of  the  claimants  to  his 
throne      The  chief  was  Alan  of  Brittany;   others 
were  his  cousins,  Osbern  and  Gilbert.    This  guardian- 
ship was   no   enviable    post.      Alan   was    poisoned 
while  he  was  besieging  a  rebel  castle  ;  Gilbert  was 
murdered  by  assassins  hired  by  a  relative  of  his  own  ; 
and   Osbern  was  killed  in  William's  own  chamber. 
This  time  it  was  the  duke  himself  whose  life   was 
sought,  and  Osbern  was  killed  in  defending  him. 

There  is  no  need  to  follow  in  detail  the  events  of 
the  following  years.  Enough  has  been  said  to  show 
what  kind  of  education  it  was  that  the  young  William 
received,  how  very  hard  was  the  school  of  life  in 
which  he  was  brought  up,  what  a  wonderful  training 
in  courage,  readiness,  promptitude  of  resource  it  must 
have  given  to  any  pupil  who  was  hardy  enough  to 
survive  it.  William  did  survive  it,  and  it  fitted  him 
for  the  part  which  he  had  afterwards  to  play. 

He  was  just  twenty  years   old  when  he  ran  his 

•  Nicsa,  now  Isnik,  in  Bithynia,  famous  as  the  place  where  the  fast 
General  Council  was  held  (318  B.C.). 


WILLIAM   DEFEATS    THE   REBEL    NORMANS.      347 

greatest   risk   of  losing    both  life  and   throne.      All 
the  Norman  nobles,  it  may  be  said,  conspired  to  over- 
throw him,  not  with  the  notion  of  setting   up  any 
other  duke  in  his  place,  but  in  the  hope  of  setting  up 
each  a  little  sovereignty  of  his  own,  where  he  might 
oppress  his  weak  neighbours  to  his  heart's  content. 
The  first  thing  to  be  done  was,  if  possible,  to  seize 
William  himself.     He  happened  to  be  on  a  hunting 
expedition  at  Valognes,  a  little  town  in  the  peninsula 
now  called  La  Manche,  and  therefore  far  away  from 
his  home.     One  night  he  was  roused  from  his  s  eep 
with  the  warning  that  he  must  rise  at  once,  and  fly 
•for  his  life.     The  duke  threw  himself  on  his  horse 
and  rode  all  that  night.     In  the  morning  he  reached 
the  house  of  a  faithful  vassal,  who  gave  him  a  fresh 
horse   and   the   escort   of  his   own   sons.     Thus   he 
reached  Falaise  in  safety. 

Though  the  common  people  were  favourable  to  the 
duke,  as  indeed  they  might  well  be  with  the  prospect 
of  a  number  of  petty  tyrants  before  them,  he  was 
obli-ed  to  look  abroad  for  help,  and  he  looked  to  his 
liege  lord,  Henry  of  France.  The  King  at  once  granted 
his  petition  for  help,  and  marched  with  his  army  to  join 
the  loyal  Normans.     It  was  at   Val-fes-Dunes    near 
Caen,  that  the  opposing  forces  met.     It  was  Wilham  s 
first  battle,  and  he  bore  himself  in  ,t  with  all  the 
courage  that  distinguished  him  through  life  ;  nor  did 
he  fail  to  show  that  great  physical  strength  which  we 
shall  see  displayed  hereafter  in  a  greater  fight.    The 
King  too,  on  his  part,  did  his  duty  as  a  warrior,  though 
he  was    twice   unhorsed.      After  a  fierce  resistance 
the  rebels  were  overthrown.    Their  loss  on  the  field 


li 


-V.    \   -fa  -.J'-rir  -J  fr-n-  ^JgteSJ.  - 


348 


WILLIAM   OF  NORMANDY. 


of  battle  was  great,  and  their  loss  in  the  flight  still 
greater.  William  was  now  undisputed  master  of 
Normandy.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  require  from 
his  turbulent  nobles  the  destruction  of  the  castles 
which  they  had  built  during  the  period  of  anarchy, 
and  which  were  the  signs  of  the  lawless  independence 

that  they  so  coveted. 

Master  of  his  own  inheritance,  William  now  began 
to  turn  his  thoughts  to  a  richer  possession  which  he 
began  to  hope  might  be  his.     The  crown  of  England 
was  not  without  heir ;  but  there  was  no  heir  present 
before  the  eyes  of  men.     The  last  direct  male  descen- 
dant  of  Alfred  I  was  living  in  a  distant  country.     If 
there  were  other  claimants  they  had  no  great  thought 
either  of  legal  right  or  of  popular  favour  to  urge  on 
their  own  behalf     If  the  house  of  Godwin  thought  of 
the  succession  as  a  thing  that  might  come  to  them, 
why  might  he  not  so  think  of  it  ? 

It  was  therefore  appropriately  enough  during  the 
exile  of  Godwin  and  his  sons  (1051-1052),  that 
William  paid  a  visit  to  the  English  king.  What 
passed  between  the  two  on  that  occasion  can  never 
be  known.  But  there  is  a  general  consent  that  some 
sort  of  promise  was  made  by  Edward  that  William 
should  have  the  succession  to  his  kingdom. 

But  it  was  necessary,  or  at  least  expedient,  to  have 
some  kind  of  personal  right.  This  was  a  difficult,  it 
may  be  said,  an  impossible,  thing  to  acquire.  Still 
some  kind  of  pretence  might  be  invented.  A  claim 
on  the  score  of  birth  was  impossible.  Even  had 
William  been  the  legitimate  child  of  his  father,  there 

»  The  Atheling  Edward,  son  of  Edmund  Ironsides. 


MATILDA   OF  FLANDERS. 


349 


was  no  blood  relationship  between  Duke  Robert  and 
the  royal  house  of  England.  But  what  could  not  come 
by  birth  might  be  obtained  by  marriage.  And  it 
seems  very  likely  that  William  did  think  of  this 
possibility  in  choosing  the  lady  whom  he  would  seek 

in  marriage. 

We  have  heard  more  than  once  of  Baldwin  ot 
Flanders  as  a  prince,  with  whom  unsuccessful  pre- 
tenders found  it  convenient  to  take  refuge.  It  was 
Baldwin's  daughter  Matilda  whom  William  deter- 
mined to  make  his  wife. 

The  lady  had,  it  seems,  been  married  before,  and 
had  borne  two  children  to  her  former  husband.  But 
she  was  exceedingly  beautiful,  if  her  traditionary 
portrait  and  the  glowing  language  of  contemporaries 
can  be  trusted.  And  she  had  the  advantage  of  being 
descended  from  Alfred  through  his  daughter,  the 
wife  of  Baldwin  II.  of  Flanders. 

The  difficulties  that  William  had  to  overcome  in 
prosecuting  his  courtship  were  great     There  was,  it 
would  seem,  aversion  on  the  part  of  the  lady,  aversion 
which,  according   to    one    account,  the    suitor  over- 
came bv  the  strange  method  of  making  his  way  into 
her  father's  palace,  seizing  her  by  the  hair  as  she  sat 
in  her  mother's  chamber,  and,  after  repeated  blows, 
throwing  her  on  the  ground.     "  He  must  be  a  man  of 
great   courage,"  Matilda   is   reported   to   have   said, 
"who  could  dare  to  beat    me   in    my  own  father's 
palace,"  when  she  was  asked  why  she  had  afterwards 
consented  to  a  suit  which  she  had  at  first  scornfully 

refused. 

Another  difficulty  was  of  a  legal  kind.    What  it 


"  W'' 


'    I 


li 


/iitjiayiaaiB:&aitesfevi>A<atoiiii.>j«a8i8aiiua<«fc/- 


3=0  WILLIAM  OF  NORMANDY. 

was  we  cannot  pretend  to  say  with  any  certainty.    It 
is  impossible  to  believe  that  Matilda's  first  husband 
was  still  alive.     On  the  other  hand,  it  seems  equally 
impossible   to   make    out    clearly    any    relationship 
between   the   two   lovers   that   would  have  brought 
their  marriage  within  the   prohibited  degrees.     But, 
whatever  the   difficulties    were,   they    were    serious 
enough  to  delay  the  marriage  for  nearly  four  years 
The  courtship  began  in  1048,  but  the  marriage  did 
not  take  place  till  105 1.     It  was  expressly  forbidden 
at  the  time  when  it  was  first  proposed  by  the  Council 
of  Rheims.     Even  when  it  was  actually  celebrated  it 
was  held  to  be  irregular  by  the  authorities  of  the 
Church  ;  and  it  was  not  till  six  or  seven  years  after- 
wards that  Pope  Nicholas   II.  yielded,  not  without 
reluctance,  to  the  petition  of  William's  chosen  advo- 
cate, LanfranC  and  granted  the  dispensation  which 
was  to  take  away  from  it  all  defect. 

Such,  then,  was  Harold's  great  rival.  His  claims 
or  hopes  were  Edward's  promise,  Harold's  own  oath, 
and  the  relationship  of  his  wife  to  the  royal  house 
His  chief  support  lay  in  the  Norman  influence  which 
the  King  during  all  his  reign  had  so  busily  promoted. 
'  Afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 


II 


XXXII. 

THE  ACCESSION   OF   HAROLD  AND  THE  CAMPAIGN 

IN   THE  NORTH. 

EDWARD  THE  CONFESSOR  was  now  drawing  near 
to  his   end.       The   vexation    which  he  felt   at   the 
banishment  of  Tostig  is  said  to  have  aggravated  h, 
sickness  •  but  whatever  the  cause,  it  was  now  evident 
at  h    had  not  long  to  live.     On   Christmas  Day  he 
appeared  in  public,  wearing  his  crown,  according  to 
Som,  but  in  the  evening  his  strength  gave  way 
Still  he  rallied,  and  appeared,  more  than  once,  at  the 
banquets  with  which  the  Christinas  festival  was  heM. 
On    Innocents'     Day    (Wednesday,    December    28, 
?i5)  the  great  church  which  he  had  been  building 
oV  many  years,  and  on  which  he  had  spent  it  was 
sad   the  tenth  part  of  the  wealth  of  the  kingdom 
wt'consecrated.'  The  King  was  too  weak  to  attend 
The  ceremony  ;  when  he  heard  that  it  was  complete, 
he  la  "his  head  upon  his  pillow.     Nor  did  he  ever 
rise   again   from   his  bed.       He   grew   weaker   and 
::akef  till,  on  the  Tuesday  in  the  following  week 
(January    5,    1066),  his    speech   failed  him.       Iwo 
days   after  came  that  common   lighting  up  before 


I 


I 


PROPHECY  OF  EDWARD   THE   CONFESSOR.      353 

death  which  is  so  common  an  experience.    The  King 
awoke  from  his  sleep  and  spoke.   There  were  present, 
Earl  Harold,  Archbishop  Stigand,  the    Queen    who 
sat  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  warming  her  husband  s 
feet  in  her  bosom,  and  Robert,  keeper  of  the  palace. 
The  dying  man's  words  were  at  first  words  of  warn- 
in?  and  he  uttered  them  with  such  a  fluency  that,  as 
his' biographer  says,  a  man  in  the  strongest  health, 
could  not  have  exceeded  him.     The  warning  was  one 
of  evil  days  to  come   upon   the   land  which  should 
not  cease  till  a  day  in  which  «  a  green  tree  should  be 
cut  away  from  its  trunk,  and  be  carried  away  for  the 
,  space  of  three  acres  from  its  root,  and  shall  give  itself 
to  its  trunk  without  the  help  of  man."  ' 

His  warning  or  prophecy  finished,  he  gave  orders 
for  his  burial,  asked  for  the  prayers  of  the  survivors 
for  his  soul,  and  specially  thanked  his  wife  for  her 
loving  care  of  him.     Then  the  great  question  was  put 

.  The  prophecy  was  commonly  interpreted  to  mean  the  succession  of 

the  rice  rf  Matilda  of  Scotland,  granddaughter  of  Edmund  Irons.des 
the  race  oi  raau.u  ^^  „         ,^  ^  ^y^^  ^^         „( 

,„g  expUnat>on    from  M  ^^^  ^^^^^,^^^  ^.^^^  ,^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^ 

the  balks.    -^^""^''*',  .^,     ,    .     __r  ti^e  stem  from  the  root  to  his  eye, 

restoring  it  agam  to  Us  root,  as  he  «'"''  "^  of  taking  "three  acres. 
;!:.^3-  ^mr rofTl:^  Ui:^-  -^  aU  are  regular 
btrips  of  land  in  the  common  or  field. 


SEAL  OF   I.......:.         iE   CONFESSOR. 

(/Trom  the  original  in  the  British  Museum.) 


Vii&Si^Baia,&,,iilli^,£^SMJtU.  .%■  • .  ■-  J.'.a«fi£^«i«.V.^Iw.i 


SEAL  OF   EDWARD    lllE   CONFESSOR. 

{from  the  original  in  the  British  Museum.) 


PROPHECY   OF  EDWARD    THE    CONFESSOR.      353 

death  which  is  so  common  an  experience.     The  King 
auokc  from  his  sleep  and  spoke.   There  were  present, 
Earl  Harold,  .\rchbishop  Stigand,  the    Queen    who 
sat  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  warming  her  husbands 
feet  in  her  bosom,  and  Robert,  keeper  of  the  palace. 
The  dying  man's  words  were  at  first  words  of  warn- 
in<r  and  he  uttered  them  with  such  a  fluency  that,  as 
his' biographer  says,  a  man  in  the  strongest  health 
could  not  have  exceeded  him.     The  warning  was  one 
of  evil  days  to  come   upon   the   land  which  should 
not  cease  till  a  day  in  which  «  a  green  tree  should  be 
cut  away  from  its  trunk,  and  be  carried  away  for  the 
space  of  three  acres  from  its  root,  and  shall  give  itself 
to  its  trunk  without  the  help  of  man." ' 

His  warning  or  prophecy  finished,  he  gave  orders 
for  his  burial,  asked  for  the  prayers  of  the  survivors 
for  his  soul,  and  specially  thanked  his  wife  for  her 
loving  care  of  him.     Then  the  great  question  was  put 

.  The  prophecy  wa.  commonly  interpreted  to  mean  the  successior.  of 

i„g  «p  anatton    from        .  ^'^^^^^^^^  ^f„,^,  .,,  ,„  ,,,„p  i„ 

TT'  dreamin.  y  ga    c    hlugh  the  window  of  his  chamber  upon  the 

;  fi  M    and    he  turf  l,alk,  dividing  the  acres.    The  green  tree  may 

°Z  be  n  suggJid  to  his  mind  by  an  actual  tree  growing  out  of  one  of 

rLlt?  The  uneven  gla»  of  h«  window-panes  would  be  just  as  l.kely 

the  balks,    '-'^""""r^"^.,    .  ^  „^^^  ,^g  stem  from  the  root  to  his  eye, 

restoring  It  again  to  it.  root,  as  he  sa  .     ^.       ..^^^^^  ^cres, 

-  ^e;:?-  rs'ttr  rof^::; -r:.!^-  vt  l.  ..  ...^ 

strips  of  land  in  the  common  or  field. 


I 


354 


THE  ACCESSION  OF  HAROLD. 


to  him  To  whom  did  he  leave  his  kingdom  ?  His 
answer  was,  "stretching  out  his  hand  to  his  aforesaid 
brother  Harold,  '  I  commend  her  [the  Queen]  with  the 
whole  realm  to  thy  protection.' "  After  a  few  more 
words,  among  them  being  the  strict  injunction  that 
his  death  should  not  be  concealed  from  the  people 
(lest  he  should  lose  the  benefit  of  their  immediate 
prayers),  he  received  the  communion,  and  so  passed 

''' The  King's  death  had  been  so  confidently  expected, 
and  the  situation  was  one  of  such  urgency,  that  the 
Great  Assembly  of  the  kingdom  was  actually  sitting 
on  this  same  fifth  day  of  January.     There  seems  to 
have  been  little  hesitation  in  their  action.     William 
of  Malmesbury  indeed  writes,  "  England   was  doubt- 
fully inclined,  not  knowing  to  what  ruler  she  should 
commit   herself,  whether  to   Harold,  or  William,  or 
Edgar"       But   he   continues,    "all    openly    blessed 
Harold  "     And  it  was  on  Harold  that  their  choice 
fell        His    brothers,    Gurth    and    Leofwine,     were 
selected  to  be  the  bearers  of  the  offer  of  the  crown. 
It  was  an  offer  which  he  could  not  accept  without 
misgivings,  foremost  among  them  being  his  oath  to 
William— but  which  he  could  not  refuse. 

The  next  day,  the  feast  of  the  Epiphany  (January 
6th)  came  the  two  ceremonies  of  the  burial  of 
Edward  and  the  coronation  of  Harold.  Archbishop 
Stigand  had  no  part  in  either  of  them.  Who  officiated 
when  the  corpse  of  the  Confessor  was  laid  in  the 
grave  matters  little,  but  it  is  important  to  note  that  it 
was  Ealdred,  the  Northumbrian  Primate,  who  put  the 
crown  on  Harold's  head.     He  asked  in  a  loud  voice 


HAROLD  IS  CROWNED  KING. 


355 


of   the    English    people    whether  they  chose   Earl 
Harold  for  their  king.     A  great  shout  of  assent  was 
the  answer.     Then  Harold  swore  that  he  would  ob- 
serve the  laws  of  the  kingdom.     Then,  with  solemn 
prayers,  came  the  ceremonies  of  the  anointing,  the 
placing  of  the   sword   in   the  hand,  the  putting  of 
the  crown  upon  the  head,  and  then  the  presentation 
of    the    sceptre    and  the  rod  with  the   Holy  Dove. 
Thus,  with  all  the  ancient  solemnities,   Harold  was 
made  King  of  England. 

There  were  two  men  to  whom  this  event  was  most 
unwelcome.      One  was   William  of  Normandy  ;  the 
other  Harold's  brother  Tostig,  the  banished  Earl  of 
Northumbria.     Of  the  former  I  shall  speak  hereafter. 
But  the  story  of  Tostig  may  as  well  be  finished  now. 
It  is  possible  that  he  had  expected  to  be  restored,  but 
it  could   hardly  have  been   through    any    help    of 
Harold     Without  Harold's  interference,  he  felt,  his 
banishment  would  never  have  been  decreed.     Now 
that  this  enemy,  as  he  had  doubtless  learnt  to  think 
of  his   brother,  was  on   the   throne,  all   hopes  of  a 
peaceable  return  must  be  given  up.      He  lost  little 
time  in  setting  to  work.     The  Chronicle  speaks  of  a 
ereat  comet  which  was  seen  on  April  24th,  and  for 
six  nights  after.'      It  goes  on  :  "  Shortly  after  Earl 
Tosti-  came  from  beyond  sea  into  Wight,  with  as 
largel  fleet  as  he  could  get."    It  says  nothing  of  how 
he   got  this  fleet  together,  or  of  who  helped  him. 
There  is  some  reason  for  thinking  that  it  was  William 
of  Normandy.      "  He   did   harm   by   the   sea   coast 
wherever  he  went,"  and  so  came  to  Sandwich.     But 

'  Another  form  gives  April  i8th. 


I 


¥ 


-!'^*^w^!^?g^!^?:' 


f^MfntVM'M^^'^!^'''- 


356 


THE  ACCESSION  OF  HAROLD. 


Sandwich  was  not  a  safe  place  for  h.m,  as  the  pre- 
parations  which  Harold   had   been   making  against 
William  could  easily  be  turned  against  him.     Ac- 
cordingly he  sailed  northwards,  entered  the  Humber, 
and  ravaged  its  southern  or  Lincolnshire  shore.  Earls 
Edwin  and  Morcar  collected  their  levies,   attacked 
him   and   drove  him   away.     Then  his  movements 
become  somewhat  obscure.     According  to  one  ac- 
count, "  he  went  to  Scotland,  and  the  king  of  Scot- 
land  gave    him    an    asylum,  and   aided  him   with 
provisions,  and   he  abode   there  all   the    summer 
And  then  in  September  we  find   him   joined   with 
Harold   Hardrada  of  Norway.      The   long   stay   in 
Scotland  seems  improbable.      He  must  have   soon 
begun  to  look  for  a  more  powerful  ally  than  he  had 
yet  found,  and  to  have  seen  one  in  the  house  of  a 
king  whom  he  must  have  vi.sited  hardly  later  than 
midsummer,  if  we  are  to  allow  anything  like  sufficient 
time  for  the  vast  preparations  of  which  we  afterwards 
hear      It  is  possible  indeed  that  the  Norwegian  king 
had  already  made  or  at  least  begun  these  preparations, 
and  that  Tostig's  arrival  only  served  to  support  im- 
mediate action,  and  perhaps  the  way  in  which  that 
action  should  be  taken. 

Harold  Hardrada  was  a  notable  man.  He  was  the 
half-brother  of  Olaf  the  Saint,  and  we  hear  of  him 
fighting  by  his  side  in  the  fatal  field  of  Vaerdalen. 
From  that  time  there  was  no  more  famous  champion. 
His  huge  stature,  his  daunUess  courage,  his  singular 
skill  in  arms,  combined  to  make  him  the  first  of  the 
Northmen  of  his  day.  When  the  triumph  of  the  foes 
of  his  family  drove  him  from  home  he  went  eastward 


BATTLE  OF  FULFORD. 


357 


and  served  in  the  bodyguard  of  the  Emperor  of 
Constantinople.  Then  he  came  back  and  reigned  in 
Norway  together  with  his  nephew,  Magnus  the  Good. 
His  nephew's  death  left  him  sole  ruler  of  his  king- 
dom, and  now  he  planned  what  should  be  the  greatest 
achievement  of  his  life,  to  do  what  Canute  had  done 
before  him,  and  make  himself  King  of  England. 

Leaving  alone  the  difficulties   that   surround   the 
earlier  part  of  the  story,  I  shall  pass  on  to  tell  how 
the  expedition  fared.     Early  in  September  it  reached 
Scarborough.      After  a  sharp  conflict  with  the  in- 
habitants, the   town   was  taken   and   burnt.      btiU 
sailing  southward,  and  ravaging  the  coast  as  they 
went,  they  came  to  the  mouth  of  the  Humber.    They 
sailed  up  this  estuary,  and  then  again  up  the  Ouse, 
till  they  reached  a  spot,  now  known  as  Riccall'  a 
few   miles  from  Selby.      Here  the  ships  were  left 
under  a   strong  guard,  while  the  King  and   Tostig 
marched   against   York.       Meanwhile   the   northern 
earls  had  been  raising  their  levies,  and  they  now  ad- 
vanced to  attack  the  invaders.     The  armies  met  at  a 
place  called  Fulford,  then  about  two  miles  from  York, 
but  now  partly  included  in  that  city.    The  battle 
was  fiercely  contested.    At  first  it  went  in  favour  of 
the  English,  whose  left  wing  broke  through  the  Nor- 
wegian right.      Then    Harold  the  King  charged  in 
person,  and  carried  all  before  him.    The  English  fled 
before  him,  leaving  many  dead  on  the  field,  among 
whom   was  a  notable    number  of  ecclesiastics,  and 
losing  still  more  in  the  flight. 

•  The  entrenchments  made  by  the  Northmen  are  still  to  be  seen  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  this  village. 


I 


■  'a.'.f"  'J  J  ■  af^  rSatf-A^'vi  ? 


358-  THE  ACCESSION  OF  HAROLD. 

The  battle  of  Fulford  was  fought  on  September 
20th  On  the  24th  York  surrendered.  But  Harold 
did  not  remain  in  that  city.  He  removed  his  quarters 
nine  miles  north-east  to  Stamford  Bridge,  and  then 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  hostages  who  were  to  assure 
him  of  the  fidelity  of  the  county.  For  Yorkshire  had 
promised  by  its  representatives  assembled  m  its  ch.et 
city  that  it  would  obey  Harold  as  King  of  England, 
and  would  help  him  to  subdue  the  rest  of  the  land. 

Meanwhile    the    English    Harold   was    hastening 
northwards.     He  had  been  watching,  as  will  be  told 
hereafter,  the  southern  coast,  to  guard  against  the  in- 
vasion of  William  ;  but  here  was  a  pressing  call  for 
help  which  could  not  be  neglected.     As  he  went,  the 
men  of  the  shires  through  which  he  passed  joined 
him  •  on  the  day  of  the  surrender  of  York  he  reached 
Todcaster,  a  spot  about  as  far  from  that  city  on  the 
south-east  as  Stamford  Bridge  is  on  the  north-east 
The  next  morning  he  entered  York,  and  was  received 
with  enthusiasm.     But  he  did  not  stay  to  rest      He 
marched  out  at  once  to  do  battle  with  the  invaders. 

According  to  all  accounts  he  surprised  them.  Ihe 
Norse  saga  describes  how  Harold  Hardrada  and  his 
allies  were  riding  into  York  to  make  arrangements  for 
the  business  of  government  when  they  came  sudden  y 
on  the  English  army.«     English  writers  give  us  to 

.  The  Norse  story  is  too  picturesque  to  be  lost ;  and  there  may  be 
1„1U  in  it  It  runs  thus.  The  Norwegian  king  rode  into 
IX:  ho  d  i  cott.  Ea^l  Tostig  wi.h  hin..  As  they  went,  they  saw 
1  A  f  L,  from  under  which  soon  appeared  the  ghttermg  spears 
it^^S'^  Tostig  is  for  falling^  bacU  on  ^^'^^ 
were  it  must  be  remembered,  far  away  on  the  other  side  of  York) ,  but 
r^^  will  face  the  foe.     He  sends  a  messenger  to  the  ships,  and 


SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


359 


understand  that  the  Norwegians  were  found  unpre- 
pared in  their  camp,  which  seems  to  have  occupied 
both  sides  of  the  Derwent.     It  was,  of  course,  the 
division  that  occupied  the  right  bank  on  which  Harold 
and  his  advance  first  fell.     The  confusion  was  terrible  ; 
the  Northmen  were  driven  across  the  stream,  which 
was  so  choked  with  corpses  that  the  living  passed  over 
on  the  bodies  of  the  dead.     The  bridge  that  spanned 
the  river  was  held  by  a  single  champion,  who,  for  a 
time,  kept  the  whole  English  army  at  bay,  and  was 
not  dislodged  till    an  Englishman   crept  under  the 
timbers,  and  pierced  him  from  below.     Meanwhile 
Hardrada  had  had  time  to  form  his  host  in  battle 
array.     Then  came  the  final  struggle.     Of  its  details 
we  know   nothing,  though   we  may   imagine  much. 
Doubtless  it   was   not  much   unlike   the  great  fight 

marshals  his  army  for  battle,  making  a  great  circle  with  the  banner  of 
his  house  in  the  midst.  As  he  rides  round  the  wall  of  shields  his 
horse  stumbles.  He  falls  to  the  ground.  To  his  own  men  he  makes 
light  of  the  omen  ;  but  to  the  English  king,  interprefng  it  by  contraaes, 
it  augurs  well.  "  Who  is  that,  the  tall  man  who  fell  from  h.s  horse  ? 
he  asks  of  his  followers.  And  when  he  hears  that  it  .s  the  NorwegK,a 
king,  "A  goodly  man,"  he  answers,  "but  h>s  fall  is  approachmg 
Then  come!  the  attempt  to  make  terms  of  peace  The  two  Harolds 
and  Tostig  meet.  "What  will  you  give  me?  "  asks  the  banjshed  earl 
of  his  brother  the  king.  "  Your  earldom  ;  nay  more,  even  ^  h'  f  o  my 
kinedom  "     "  And  what  shall  the  king  of  Norway  have  ?  Seven 

fet'oHarth  for  a  grave,  or  so  much  more  as  he  -  taller  than  o^her 
men."  Tostig  turns  away,  for  he  cannot  desert  his  f  y-  ^^^" 
Harold  Hardrfda  learns  that  it  is  the  English  king  with  whom  they  had 
been  talking,  he  blames  Tostig  for  letting  him  depart  unha.med.  Then 
comes  the  ba.lle.  The  wall  of  shields  is  unbroken  fl.t  breaks  .tself  o 
pursue  the  beaten  foe.  In  ihe  confusion  King  Harold  f=;"s.  P-c  d  m 
The  throat  by  an  arrow.  Then  Tostig  takes  up  the  fight  Ull  he  also  « 
smitten.  Finally,  the  men  from  the  ships  come  up,  and  the  battle  begins 
again  more  fiercely  than  ever.  At  nightfall,  after  a  desperate  conflict, 
the  English  have  won  a  great  victory. 


.1, 
» 


360 


THE  ACCESSION  OF  HAROLD. 


which  I  shall  attempt  to  describe  in  the  following 
chapter.  There  was  the  ring,  hedged  about  with  the 
wall  of  shields,  and  the  assailants  plying  upon  it 
sword  and  battle-axe.  Only  the  parts  are  changed. 
At  Stamford  Bridge  the  English  attack,  at  Senlac 
they  stand  on  their  defence.  They  lose  the  later,  as 
they  win  the  earlier  fight. 

What  is  certain  is  that  the  Norwegian  host  was 
utterly  broken.     "Three  kings  were  slain,"  says  the 
Chronicler,  meaning    Harold,   Tostig,    and   an    Irish 
prince  who  had  joined  their  alliance,  in  the  hope  of 
getting  some  share  of  English  plunder.     As  for  their 
followers,  few  seem  to  have  left  the  field  of  Stamford 
Bridge  alive.     But  those  who  had  been  left  with  the 
fleet  fared  better.     Harold  offered  them  peace.    They 
came  to  York,  gave  him  hostages,  and  swore  a  great  . 
oath  that  they  would  keep  the  peace  with  England 
thereafter.      Then    they  sailed  away,  carrying  with 
them,  according  to  one  account,  the  body  of  Harold 
Hardrada  for  burial  in  his  native  land. 

The  English  king  had  much  to  do  in  settling  the 
affairs  of  the  North,  and  he  had  also  to  give  his  army 
some  rest.  He  was  still  at  York  when  a  swift  mes- 
senger brought  the  news  that  William  of  Normandy 
had  landed  on  the  southern  coast.  He  heard  the 
tidings,  not  as  he  sat  at  the  banquet  on  the  evening  of 
the  day  of  Stamford  Bridge,  but,  as  we  may  guess, 
about  seven  days  after.  He  turned  at  once  to  meet 
this  new  and  more  dangerous  foe.' 

■  The  battle  of  Stamford  Bridge  was  fought  on  September  25th. 
William  landed  on  September  28th  The  fleetest  messenger  could 
hardly  have  traversed  the  two  hundred  miles  that  lie  between  the  south 
coast  and  York  in  less  than  four  days. 


XXXIII. 


THE  LAST   STRUGGLE. 

MY  Story  must  now  go  back  to  the  early  days  of 
the  year  1066.     It  was  not  long  before  William  heard 
the  news  of  Edward's  death  and  Harold's  accession. 
The  tidings  came  to  him  as  he  was  setting  out  for  a 
day's  hunting.     He  turned  back  at  once  on  hearing 
them,  but  said  nothing,  nor  did  any  man  dare  to  speak 
to  him      Then  he  went  to  his  palace  at  Rouen,  and 
sat  deep  in  thought,  with  his  face  covered.     He  must 
have  been  long  expecting  such  news.     Edward  s  life 
he  knew  to  be  precarious,  and   he   could   not  have 
doubted  what  Harold's  hopes  had  been.     But  such 
things,  whether  expected  or  not,  must  always  be  a 
surprise ;  and  he  had  to  make  up  his  mind  at  once. 
For  years  his  thoughts  had  been  bent  on  possessing 
himself  of  the  crown  of  England  ;  and  now  the  time 
was  come  for  putting  them.   Whatever  his  confidence, 
he  could  not  take  such  news  lightly. 

The  first  steo  was,  of  course,  to  send  an  embassy  to 
Harold  with  aformal  claim  of  the  crown.  We  do  not 
know  the  precise  terms  of  the  message,  but  we  can 
easily  imagine  them.  William  must  have  called  upon 
Harold  to  fulfil  the  promises  which  he  had  made,  or, 


362 


THE   LAST   STRUGGLE. 


at  least,  some  of  them.  By  rights  he  ought  to  yield 
up  the  kingdom.  Failing  to  do  that,  let  him  at  least 
marry  the  duke's  daughter,  to  whom  he  had  been 
contracted  in  time  past,  and  give  his  own  sister  m 
marriage  to  a  Norman  noble.  Harold's  answer  is 
variously  reported,  but  here,  too,  we  may  supply  it  for 
ourselves.  The  kingdom  was  not  his  to  surrender  ;  it 
had  been  given  to  him  by  the  English  people.     That 


HAWKING. 

(From  the  Bayeaux  Tapestry.) 

people,  too,  would  have  something  to  say  about  his 
marriage.  Their  pleasure  was  that  an  English  kmg 
should  take  an  English  wife.     As  for  his  sister,  she 

was  dead. 

William  did  not  expect  to  have  any  other  answer. 
His  demands  had  been  made  as  a  matter  of  form,  and 
with  the  object  of  putting  his  adversary  in  the  wrong. 
This  done,  he  set  about  preparing  for  the  great  enter- 
prise of  the  conquest  of  England.    The  first  thmg 


THE  POPE  William's  ally. 


3^3 


was  to  obtain  the  assent  of  his  barons.     Here  he  had 
much  to  help  him,  though  there  were  difficulties  to 
overcome.     The  thirty  years  that  had  passed  since  he 
had   succeeded-a   child   of    seven-to   his     father's 
dukedom  had  impressed  the  Normans  with  a  strong 
sense  of  his  extraordinary  ability  and  courage.     If 
there  was  any  leader  under  whom  they  would  venture 
to  undertake  so  perilous  an  enterprise  as  the  conquest 
of  England,  it  was  their  Duke  William.     But  perilous 
it  was,  more  perilous  than  any  that   had  been  at- 
tempted  within  the  memory  of  man.     Then,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  the  peril  was  great,  great  also  would 
be  the  rewards.     On  the  whole,  therefore,  there  was 
much   division  of  feeling.      When  William  held  an 
assembly  of  his  nobles   he  could  not  get  mdeed  a 
general  assent  to  his  plan,  but  he  got  many  promises 
of    support.       The   barons,   though   they   were   not 
bound   to   serve   beyond    the   sea,  would    follow  his 
banner,  and  would  even  bring  with  them  twice  the 
numbers  which  they  could  legally  be  called  upon  to 

furnish. 

Then  he  looked  for  help  outside  the  borders  of  his 
own  duchy,  looked  for  help  both  moral  and  material. 
He  had  some  success  in  obtaining  both.  Philip  of 
France  would  not  help  him,  nor  would  Baldwin  of 
Flanders.  But  Eustace  of  Boulogne  was  glad  to  pay 
off  an  old  grudge  against  Harold,  besides  the  getting 
a  share  in  that  English  plunder  of  which  he  had 
before  been  permitted  to  get  only  the  merest  taste. 
A  more  important  ally  was  the  Pope.  An  embassy 
to  Rome  laid  before  Alexander  HI.,  who  was  the 
reigning  pontiff  of  the  time,  his  claims  and  his  wrongs. 


''  -i.    ,   htf    'r' 


EMBARKMENT  OF  THE  NORMANS. 


365 


Alexander  sent  his  blessing  and  a  consecrated  banner, 
which  must  have  been  a  promise  of  victory  to  the 
Normans,  a  people  strongly  impressed  with  a  sense  of 
religion,  though  not,  it  would  seem,  much  mfluenced 
by  it  in  the  conduct  of  life. 

As  for  men  there  was  no  want  of  them.  Volunteers 
thronged  in  even  from  the  territories  of  princes  who 
gave  no  public  favour  to  the  enterprise-from  Br.ttany, 
where  a  war  with  the  English  would  be  popular  ;  from 
Flanders,  the  native  country  of  the  Duchess  Matilda  ; 
from  France ;  and  even,  it  is  said,  from  those  parts  of 
Southern  Europe  in  which  a  Norman  population  had 

'^  The"ships  which  were  to  carry  over  this  multitude 
of  men  were  given  by  the  Norman  nobles  and  bishops. 
The  number  of  them,  as  well  as  the  number  of  the 
host,  has  been  variously  reckoned.  If  we  reckon  the 
latter  as  something  between  fifty  and  sixty  thousand 
men,  we  may  be  sure  that  there  must  have  been  a 
mighty  fleet  to  carry  them,  not  the  three  thousand 
perhaps,  of  one  account,  but  certainly  more  than  the 
five  hundred  and  ninety-six  of  another.' 

The  vast  armament  thus  gathered  together  had  its 
rendezvous  a  few  miles  to  the  west  of  Havre,  not  far 
from  what  is  now  the  well-known  watering-p  ace  ot 
Trouville.  It  assembled  about  the  middle  of  August 
There  it  lay  for  a  month,  waiting  in  vain  for  the  south 
wind  that  was  to  carry  it  safely  to  the  opposite  shore. 
Meanwhile  the  mixed  multitude  was  kept  under  the 

.  The  combined  force  of  French  and  English  landed  |"  *e  Crim^ 
in  the  autumn  of  1854  required  more  than  a  thousand  sh.ps  for  Us 
transport.    It  numbered  about  fifty  thousand  men. 


6 


;/5   -v* 


,S 


EMBARKMENT  OF  THE  NORMANS.  3^5 

Alexander  sent  his  blessing  and  a  consecrated  banner, 
xvhich  must  have  been  a  promise  of  victory  to  the 
Normans,  a  people  strongly  impressed  with  a  sense  of 
religion,  though  not,  it  would  seem,  much  mfluenced 
by  it  in  the  conduct  of  life. 

As  for  men  there  was  no  want  of  them.  Volunteers 
thronged  in  even  from  the  territories  of  princes  who 
gave  no  public  favour  to  the  enterprise-from  Brittany, 
where  a  war  with  the  English  would  be  popular  ;  from 
Flander=  the  native  country  of  the  Duchess  Matilda  ; 
from  France ;  and  even,  it  is  said,  from  those  parts  of 
Southern  Europe  in  which  a  Norman  population  had 

'^The'ships  which  were  to  carry  over  this  multitude 
of  men  were  given  by  the  Norman  nobles  and  bishops. 
The  number  of  them,  as  well  as  the  number  of  the 
host,  has  been  variously  reckoned.     If  we  reckon  the 
latter  as  something  between  fifty  and  sixty  thousand 
men  we  may  be  sure  that  there  must  have  been  a 
mighty  fleet  to  carry  them,  not  the  three  thousand 
perhaps,  of  one  account,  but  certainly  more  than  the 
five  hundred  and  ninety-six  of  another.' 

The  vast  armament  thus  gathered  together  had  its 
rendezvous  a  few  miles  to  the  west  of  Havre,  not  far 
from  what  is  now  the  well-known  watering-p  ace  of 
TrouviUe.  It  assembled  about  the  middle  of  August 
There  it  lay  for  a  month,  waiting  in  vain  for  the  south 
wind  that  was  to  carry  it  safely  to  the  opposite  shore. 
Meanwhile  the  mixed  multitude  was  kept  under  the 

.  The  combined  force  of  French  and  English  landed  '"  '^e  Cnmea 
in  the  autumn  of  .854  required  more  than  a  thousand  ships  for  Us 
transport.     It  numbered  about  fifty  thousand  men. 


366 


THE  LAST   STRUGGLE. 


strictest  discipline.  William  set  his  face  sternly 
against  all  plundering.  That  was  to  be  reserved  for 
the  land  to  which  they  were  going. 

About  the  middle  of  September  the  duke  changed 
his  position  some  seventy  miles  eastward  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Somme,  a  position  in  which  he  was  much 
nearer  to  the  English  coast.  This  delay  must  have 
weakened  his  force,  but  it  had  more  than  compensation 
in  the  damage  which  it  did  to  the  resources  of  Harold. 
The  English  king  had  gathered  a  vast  levy  of  men, 
and  collected  a  powerful  fleet  for  the  protection  of  the 
coast.  But  he  could  not  keep  them  together.  His 
soldiers  were  not  mercenaries  supported  by  pay,  and 
ready  to  endure  no  little  privation  in  the  hope  of 
future  plunder.  They  were  a  levy  of  native  English- 
men, who  had  their  harvests  to  gather  in.  Harold,  in 
consequence,  could  not  keep  his  men  together  many 
days  after  the  beginning  of  September.  He  had  to 
disband  his  army,  while  his  fleet  returned  to  London, 
not  without  suffering  loss  on  their  way.  If  the  south 
wind  which  William  had  waited  for  so  impatiently 
had  come  sooner,  before  Harold's  army  was  broken 
up,  and  before  the  Norwegian  king,  with  the  traitor 
Tostig,  had  made  their  fatal  diversion  in  the  north, 
it  might  have  carried  him  not  to  victory,  but  to 
defeat. 

For  fourteen  or  fifteen  days  William  was  compelled 
to  tarry  in  his  new  quarters.  Then  on  the  27th  of 
September  the  long-wished  for  south  wind  began  to 
blow.  The  great  host  embarked  in  hot  haste,  the 
duke  himself  urging  them  to  do  their  work  with  all 
the  speed  they  might.     It  was  dark  before  the  start 


WILLIAM  ON  ENGLISH  SOIL. 


367 


was  made.  Every  ship  bore  a  light,  and  the  duke's 
own  vessel,  the  gift  of  his  wife,  Matilda,  was  marked 
out  from  the  rest  as  that  which  all  were  to  follow  by 
the  huge  lantern  that  it  bore.  Nothing  hindered  the 
passage.  The  wind  blew  softly  and  steadily  from  the 
same  quarter,  and  William,  like  Caesar  eleven  hundred 
years  before,  crossed  the  strait  which  has  more  than 
once  baffled  invaders,  without  suffering  any  loss.  At 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  September  28th  he 
landed  on  the  English  coast.  The  place  was  then 
known  as  Andredes-ceaster,  the  Anderida  of  Roman 
times.  It  now  bears  the  name  of  Pevensey.  Its 
character  has  changed  as  has  its  name.  The  shallow 
water  of  the  sea  would  now  ofler  a  serious  obstacle  to 
the  landing  of  an  army.  In  those  days  the  sea 
covered  ground  which  is  now  one  of  the  richest 
pastures  of  England,  and  could  bear  ships  of  no  small 
burden  up  to  the  walls  of  the  old  Roman  town. 
William  probably  expected  resistance,  but  he  found 
none.  There  was  neither  army  nor  fleet  to  hinder  his 
landing,  and  he  took  undisturbed  possession  of  his 
future  inheritance.  One  incident  that  seemed  at  first 
to  angur  ili  for  his  success  troubled  the  minds  of  his 
followers.  He  was  the  first  man  to  disembark,  and 
as  he  stepped  from  his  ship,  he  fell.  A  groan  of 
dismay  went  up  from  all  who  saw  it.  "By  the 
splendour  of  God" — this  was  the  duke's  favourite 
oath — *'  I  have  taken  seizin  of  my  kingdom,  for  the 
earth  of  England  is  in  my  hands." 

But  England  was  not  long  left  without  defenders. 
Harold,  we  have  seen,  had  heard  the  news  of  the 
landing  of  the  Normans  about  the   1st  of  October. 


OS 

< 
o 

C/5 


I 

I 


en     xi 

I 


HAROLD  RAISES  LEVIES  IN  LONDON.        369 

He  hurried  to  London,  probably  taking  his  house- 
carles  with  him,  but  leaving  the  rest  of  his  followers  to 
follow  as  soon  as  they  could.  The  defence  of  the 
South  would  have  to  be  furnished  in  the  main  from 
the  South  itself,  and  London  was  its  capital.  We 
know,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  northern  earldoms 
furnished  none  of  the  troops  who  did  battle  for  their 
country  at  Senlac.  We  may  suppose,  then,  he 
reached  London  in  about  the  time  which  it  had  taken 
the  messengers  to  travel  from  Pevensey  to  York.  As 
he  travelled  he  sent  summonses  to  such  of  the  shires 
as  would  be  able  and  willing  to  send  men  to  his  levy. 
But  London  itself  must  have  been  the  centre  of  his 
preparations  for  defence,  and  in  London,  according  to 
one  writer,  "  during  six  days  he  drew  together  an 
innumerable  number  of  Englishmen."  This  would 
bring  us  to  October  nth  or  12th. 

It  was  during  this  sojourn  in  London  that,  if  indeed 
the  story  is  true,  Gurth  prepared  his  plan  for  carrying 
on  the  campaign.  This  was  that  he  and  Leofwine 
should  go  and  do  battle  with  the  Norman  invaders. 
He  was  bound,  he  said,  by  no  oaths  to  William,  and 
could  fight  against  him  with  a  clear  conscience. 
Harold  should  keep  himself  in  reserve  and  collect 
fresh  troops  to  resist  the  invaders  should  fortune  go 
against  him  in  the  first  battle.  While  its  king 
remained  unconquered,  England  could  not  be  lost. 
Meanwhile  he  must  lay  waste  the  country  between 
the  coast  and  London,  so  as  to  leave  the  invaders  no 
means  of  subsistence.  Harold  would  have  nothing 
to  do  with  any  such  scheme.  He  would  stand  in  the 
front,  as   it   was  his  duty  to  stand,  to  defend  his 


OS 

< 
o 

X 

(A 


=1 


I 


HAROLD   RAISES   LEVIES  IN  LONDON.        369 

He  hurried  to  London,  probably  taking  his  house- 
carles  with  him,  but  leaving  the  rest  of  his  followers  to 
follow  as  soon  as  they  could.  The  defence  of  the 
South  would  have  to  be  furnished  in  the  main  from 
the  South  itself,  and  London  was  its  capital.  We 
know,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  northern  earldoms 
furnished  none  of  the  troops  who  did  battle  for  their 
country  at  Senlac.  We  may  suppose,  then,  he 
reached  London  in  about  the  time  which  it  had  taken 
the  messengers  to  travel  from  Pevensey  to  York.  As 
he  travelled  he  sent  summonses  to  such  of  the  shires 
as  would  be  able  and  willing  to  send  men  to  his  levy. 
But  London  itself  must  have  been  the  centre  of  his 
preparations  for  defence,  and  in  London,  according  to 
one  writer,  "  during  six  days  he  drew  together  an 
innumerable  number  of  Englishmen."  This  would 
bring  us  to  October  nth  or  12th. 

It  was  during  this  sojourn  in  London  that,  if  indeed 
the  story  is  true,  Gurth  prepared  his  plan  for  carrying 
on  the  campaign.  This  was  that  he  and  Leofwine 
should  go  and  do  battle  with  the  Norman  invaders. 
He  was  bound,  he  said,  by  no  oaths  to  William,  and 
could  fight  against  him  with  a  clear  conscience. 
Harold  should  keep  himself  in  reserve  and  collect 
fresh  troops  to  resist  the  invaders  should  fortune  go 
against  him  in  the  first  battle.  While  its  king 
remained  unconquered,  England  could  not  be  lost. 
Meanwhile  he  must  lay  waste  the  country  between 
the  coast  and  London,  so  as  to  leave  the  invaders  no 
means  of  subsistence.  Harold  would  have  nothing 
to  do  with  any  such  scheme.  He  would  stand  in  the 
front,  as   it   was   his   duty   to   stand,  to  defend  his 


370 


f^E   LAST  STRUGGLE. 


country.  Of  the  scruples  about  his  oath  he  took  no 
account.  He  would  not  lay  waste  the  lands  of 
Englishmen.  We  cannot  doubt  that  in  making  this 
resolve  he  was  right. 

His  hasty  preparations  completed,  he  left  London, 
and  on  the  13th  of  October  reached  the  position, 
doubtless  decided  on  beforehand,  where  he  had 
determined  to  await  the  approach  of  the  Normans. 
This  was  the  hill  of  Senlac,  now  known  as  Battle, 
one  of  the  range  of  heights  which  rise  about  six 
miles  to  the  north  of  Hastings,^  which  place  William 
had  occupied  after  his  landing  at  Pevensey.  The 
night  before  the  battle  was  spent,  so  the  story  runs 
(and  it  is  told,  we  must  remember,  by  writers  in  the 
Norman  interest),  by  the  Normans  in  prayer  and 
devotion,  by  the  English  in  noisy  feasting. 

On  a  height  above  the  town  of  Hastings,  from 
which  the  English  encampment  on  Senlac  hill  was 
visible,  William  addressed  his  army,  exhorted  them 
to  do  their  duty  as  men,  and  assured  them  of  victory. 
Then  he  armed  himself,  turning  the  curious  mis- 
chance by  which  his  coat  of  mail  was  put  on  hind- 
foremost  into  an  omen  of  success.  It  portended, 
he  said,  that  the  duke  should  be  turned  into  a 
king. 

The  left  wing  of  the  army  was  composed  of  men 
from  Brittany  and  Poitou  ;  the  left  of  the  French 
mercenaries  and  auxiliaries.  In  the  centre  was 
William  himself  with  his  Normans.  Some  heavy 
armed  infantry  he  had  ;  but  the  force  in  which  he 
chiefly  trusted  was  his  cavalry,  the  valiant  Norman 
knights,  ranged,  we  are  told,  in  five  divisions.     In  the 


Harold's  position  at  senlac. 


371 


front  line  was  carried  the  Papal  banner,  pledge,  it 
was  believed,  of  certain  victory.  Before  each  division 
went  the  archers.  It  was  their  duty,  after  discharging 
their  arrows,  to  retire  on  the  infantry  behind  them. 
They  had  neither  armour  nor  arms  to  fit  them  for 
close  combat. 

Harold,  on  the  other  hand,  had  spared  no  pains  to 
fortify  his  post  at  Senlac  hill.  He  guarded  each 
approach  with  a  triple  palisade,  in  which  there  were 
three  strongly-guarded  openings.  In  the  centre  was 
the  Royal  Standard.  By  this  the  King  and  his 
brothers,  Gurth  and  Leofwine,  took  their  post,  having 
round  them  the  house-carles,  the  strength  of  the 
English  army.  The  right  and  left  of  the  array  were 
occupied  by  the  light-armed  troops,  hasty  levies  for 
the  most  part,  and  some  of  them  very  irregularly 
armed.  The  King  himself  and  his  followers  had  the 
battle-axe  for  their  weapon. 

At  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  battle  was 
begun  by  the  archers.  They  discharged  their  arrows, 
we  are  not  told  with  what  effect,  and  then  retired. 
Then  the  whole  army  advanced  to  the  attack.  But 
before  they  closed  a  Norman  minstrel,  skilled  for 
sleight  of  hand  as  well  as  for  skill  m  song,  rode  forth 
in  front  of  the  array.  He  sang  the  song  of  Charle- 
n'-agne  and  Roland,  and  of  them  who  died  fighting 
against  the  pagan  foes  at  Roncesvalles,  and  as  he 
sang  he  threw  his  sword  into  the  air  and  caught  it 
again.  With  reckless  valour  he  rode  up,  it  seems,  to 
the  very  line  of  the  English  defence,  struck  down  one 
man  with  his  lance,  and  another  with  his  sword,  and 
then  v/as  in  his  turn  struck  dead  upon  the  ground.     - 


37^ 


THE  LAST  STRUGGLE. 


WILLIAM'S  STRATEGY. 


373 


The  heavy  infantry  began  the  serious  attack.  They 
had  toiled  through  the  marshy  ground  between  the 
hills,  and  up  the  slope,  on  the  top  of  which  the 
English  were  posted.  But  when  they  came  to  the 
palisade,  behind  which  stood  the  close  array  of 
English  warriors,  they  could  do  nothing.  All  their 
valour  could  not  win  a  way  through  it.  Then  William 
called  his  Norman  horsemen,  the  flower  of  his  nation, 
to  the  attack.  They  charged  again  and  again,  but 
even  they  could  make  no  impression  on  the  foe. 
The  English  had  the  advantage  of  the  ground, 
and  man  for  man  they  were  superior  in  stature  and 

strength. 

All  might  have  been  well,  but  for  that  want  of 
discipline  which  is  the  fatal  fault  of  such  hasty  levies, 
and  which  so  often  makes  success  the  beginning  of 
disaster.  The  Breton  troops  of  William  turned  and 
fled,  and  the  English  on  the  right  charged  forth  from 
their  defences,  and  pursued  them.  For  a  time  all 
was  panic  and  confusion  in  the  Norman  army  ;  the 
Norman  knights  themselves  were  borne  back  by  the 
tide  of  fugitives.  Then  came  the  time  for  William's 
indomitable  courage  and  constancy  to  show  itself. 
With  bare  head  he  rode  among  the  fugitives  and 
rallied  them  to  the  attack.  The  Bretons  turned,  and, 
aided  doubtless  by  the  Norman  cavalry,  slaughtered 

their  pursuers. 

Then  came  the  Conqueror's  great  eflbrt.  He  rode 
up  himself  to  the  place  where  the  Royal  Standard 
stood,  his  brothers,  Odo  of  Bayeaux,  most  valiant  of 
Churchmen,  and  Robert,  with  him.  His  purpose  was 
to  come  face  to  face  with  Harold  himself ;  but  before 


he  could  reach  him,  Gurth  had  aimed  a  spear  which 
struck,  not  indeed  the  duke  himself,  but  his  horse. 
This  did  not  stop  him,  he  pressed  on  to  the  barricade, 
and  with  a  mighty  blow  of  his  mace,  almost  as  famous 
a  weapon  as  Rustem's  club,  or  Achilles'  spear,  he 
struck  the  English  earl  to  the  ground.  Another 
blow  from  one  of  his  Norman  followers  was  fatal  to 
Leofwine. 

The  death  of  the  two  brothers  was  a  terrible  loss 
to  the  English  army;  yet  it  stood  firm.  Here  and 
there  the  assailants  had  succeeded  in  breaking  down 
the  palisade;  but  the  array  of  warriors  behind  it 
still  stood  solid  and  firm.  Then  William  had  re- 
course to  stratagem.  He  had  seen  how  the  flight  of 
the  Bretons  had  tempted  the  English  forth  from  their 
defences,  and  he  put  the  lesson  into  practice.  The 
army  was  ordered  to  fall  back.  Again  the  undiscip- 
lined levies  rushed  forth  to  the  pursuit ;  and  again 
they  were  made  to  feel  the  fatal  consequences  of  their 
rashness  and  disobedience,  and,  what  was  worse,  the 
palisade  was  left  undefended.  This  captured,  the 
task  of  the  English  in  holding  their  ground  was  made 
much  harder.  Still  they  held  it.  No  shocks  from 
the  assailants  could  move  the  dense  array  in  which 
Harold  and  his  men  stood  close  together,  so  close 
that  even  the  dead  could  not  fall  to  the  ground,  but 
remained  upright  among  the  living.  Gallant  deeds 
were  done  on  both  sides,  and  none  bore  themselves 
more  bravely  than  the  rival  leaders.  Never  was  a 
battle  more  like  the  great  Homeric  fight,  when  the 
chiefs  turn  by  the  prowess  of  their  own  hands  the 
fortune  of  the  day.     But  the  end  came  at  last,  not 


|i< 


374 


THE  LAST  STRUGGLE. 


FINIS. 


.375 


indeed  till  the  sun  was  near  the  setting.  William 
bade  his  archers  ^  shoot  a  volley  into  the  air.  The 
descending  arrows  fell  with  fatal  effect  upon  the 
English  host,  for  one  of  them  pierced  Harold's  eye 
as  he  stood  in  his  place.  He  fell  in  his  death  struggle 
at  the  foot  of  the  Royal  Standard.  Twenty  Norman 
knights  rushed  to  secure  it  ;  four  hastened  to  de- 
spatch the  still  breathing  king. 

The  battle  was  now  virtually  over,  yet  the  English 
still  resisted.  The  irregular  levies  fled  from  the 
ground,  but  not  in  such  terror  but  that  they  could 
turn,  when  the  occasion  presented  itself,  and  inflict  a 
terrible  loss  upon  their  pursuers.  But  the  King's  own 
guard,  the  house-carles,  fell  where  they  stood,  not  a 
man  leaving  his  place,  not  a  man  asking  quarter. 
And  with  them  fell  many  gallant  Englishmen,  who 
had  come  as  volunteers  to  that  fatal  field  Few  of 
their  names  have  been  preserved.  There  was  no 
"  sacred  bard  "  of  their  own  race  to  preserve  their 
fame.  But  whether  laymen  or  Churchmen — for  not 
a  few  tonsured  corpses  were  found  among  the  slain 
' — they  were  worthy  of  their  king. 

The  body  of  Harold,  recognized  by  the  woman 
whom  he  had  loved  in  his  youth  and  from  whom  he 
had  been  separated  by  reasons  of  State,  was  buried 
on  the  sea-shore,  and  afterwards,  there  is  reason  to 
believe,  removed  to  the  Abbey  which  he  had  founded 
at  Waltham. 


'  We  hear  nothing  of  archers  on  the  English  side,  famous  as  were 
these  troops  in  oui  armies  in  after -days. 


Thus  ends  the  story  of  Early  England.  I  leave  to 
others  to  tell  how  the  Norman  used  his  conquest,  and 
how,  whether  he  wished  it  so  or  no,  England  re- 
mained England  still. 


FOUNDATION   OF  THE  CHOIR  OF   BATTLE   ABBEY  AND  SITE  OF 

THE    HICxH    ALTAR. 

{Being  the  spot  upon  which  Harold's  Standard  was  planted.) 


? 


fSaeaut^tmi  inwnmawit.  ^^m 


imniim 


k 


1  N  DEX. 


A 

Adrian  I.,  Pope,  148 

Aetius,  88 

Agricola,   campaigns  in    Britain, 

57-65 
Agrippina,  wife  of  Claudius,  43 

Aidan,  St.,  120,  136 

Albinus,    Clodius,  76;  death  of, 

11 

Alcuin,  145,  140 

Alfgar  (Aelfgar),  337 

Allred  (King),  his  birth,  199; 
visit  to  Rome,  200 ;  struggle 
with  the  Danes,  205-14;  as  a 
ruler,  215-21  ;  his  learning, 
220-3  ;  character,  224 

Alfred  (Atheling),  313,  314,  318, 

334 
Allectus,  84-5 
Alphage  (Archbishop),  death  of, 

284-5 
Ambrosianus  Aurelius,  96 
Amund,  Danish  king,  203 
Angles,  95,  101-3,  117 
Anlaf,  233 
Antoninus,  Pius,  74 
Aquitani,  2 
Arleva     (Herletta),     mother     of 

William  the  Conqueror,  344 
Arthur  (King),  ico 
Arviragus,  67 
Asclepiodotus,  84 
Ashdown  (Ashdune),  140 ;  defeat 

of  the  Danes  by  Ethelred,  194-5 
Aslingdon,  battle  of,  293-4 
Assandune,    Canute's   church   at, 

298 
Asher,  biographer  of  Alfred,  198 


Athelstan  (King),  birth  of,  229  ; 
character,  231 ;  supremacy,  233; 
defeats  the  Danes  at  Brunan- 
burgh,  234-5  ;  foreign  alliance, 
237  ;  death,  238 

Athelstan  (Sub-King  of  Kent),  188 

Aylesford,  battle  of,  95 

Augustine  ( Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury) sent  to  England,  121  ; 
lands  in  Thanet,  122  ;  converts 
Ethelbert,  123  ;  quarrel  with 
the  British  Churches,   123-4 

Augustus  (Emperor  of  Rome),  31, 
32  note 

Aurelian,  80 

Aurelius,  M.,  76 

B 

Babred,  King  of  Kent,  182 
Badbury,  225 
Badon  Hill,  battle  of,  lOO 
Baldwin   of  Flanders,   313,    3 1 5, 

324,  325*  343,  363 
Bangor,  monks  of,  123-4  note 

Batavian  cavalry,  3^,  60 

Bede  (Baeda),  the  Venerable, 
157-60;  quoted,  102;  his  ac- 
count of  Caedmon,  154 

Bed  win,  battle  of,  141 

Belisarius,  88 

Benedict  (Anti-pope),  336 

Benedict  (Bishop),  Abbot  of  Wear- 
mouth  and  Jarrow,  157 

Benson  (Bensington),  battle  of, 
144 

Beorn,  324-5 

Beornwulf  (King  of  Mercia),  1 82-3 

Beornred,  144 


\\ 


378 


INDEX. 


Bericus  (?  Veric),  34 
Bernicia,  kingdom  of,  103 
Bertha,  wife  of  Ethelbert  of  Kent, 

116 
Bignor,  Roman  remains  at,  91 
Boadicea  (Boiidicea),  50-5 
Boisil,  Prior  of  Melrose,  163 
Bolanus,  Vetlius,  56 
Boroughs,  the  Five,  240,  286 
Bradon,  district  of,  226 
Brehtric,  King  of  West   Saxons, 

148 
Bretwalda,  meaning  of  word,  112- 

114 
Brice,  St.,  massacre   on  the  day 

of,  273-4 
Briganies,  40,  57 
Brithnoth,    Alderman     of     East 

Anglia,   in  command   at   Mai 

don,  262-3 
Britric,  brother  of  Edric,  279 
Brunanburgh,  battle  of,  233-6 
Brutus,  legend  of,  92 
Buhred,  sub-king  of  Mercia,  203 
Bur  ford,  battle  of,  143 


Cadwalla,  134-5 
Caedmon,  account  of,  15 1-7 
Ccesar,   Julius,    13-30 ;   lands    in 
Britain,  13  ;  his  first  expedition 
to  Britain,    1 3-2 1  ;  second  ex- 
pedition, 22-30 
Calgacus  the  Caledonian,  64 
Caligula,  pretended  conquests  of, 

33 
Camalodunum,  36,  40,  50,  51 

Camden,  the  historian,  quoted,  70 

Cangi,  40 

Canterbury,   1 23,  148,  282-4 

Canute,  named  king,  287  ; 
crowned,  290 ;  struggle  with 
Edmund  Ironsides,  290-4  ;  his 
reign  and  character,  295-310 

Caracalla,  78 

Caradoc  (Caractacus),  35-42 

Carausius,  82-5 

Cartismandua,  42 

Cassiterides,  the,  or  Tin  Islnnds,  7 

Caswallon  (Cassivelaunus),  27-9 


Catena,  Paullus,  86 

Ceawlin,   King  of  West  Saxons, 

179 
Cenwalh,  King  of  West  Saxons, 

179  ;  driven  out  by  Penda,  140 
Cenwulf,  King  of  Mercia,  149 
Ceolred,  141 

Ceolwulf,  of  Wessex,  117 
Ceonred,  141 
Ceorl,  Alderman   of  Devonshire, 

189 
Cerdic,  King  of  West  Saxons,  98- 

lOI 

Cerialis,  Pet'lius,  51-7 

Chaiford,  battle  of,  100 

Charles  the  Great  (Charlemagne), 
145,  146,  180  ;  Charles  and  the 
DaneS;  187 

Charles  the  Simple,  227,  321  note 

Chedworth,  remains  at,  243 

Chesterford,  battle  of,  243 

Cimbric  peninsula,  I02 

Cissa,  97-8 

Clapa,  319 

Claudia,  45  note 

Claudius,  Emperor  of  Rome,  32 ; 
campaign  in  Britain,  36 ;  par- 
dons Caractacus,  45 

Cogidumnus,  38,  45  fiote 

Coifi,  126-7 

Commius,  13,  17 

Commodus,  76 

Constantine  the  Great,  85 

Constantine,  usurper  of  Britain,  88 

Constantine,   sub-king    of   Scots, 

233      .  ^     ^ 

Constantius  I.,  83,  85 

Constantius  II.,  86 

Corfe  Castle,  258 

Cornwall,  tin  mines  of,  7 

Cray  ford,  95 

Croyland,  149,  191-3  (but  see 
Preface) 

Crida,  King  of  Mercia,  133 

Cuckamley  Hill,  277 

Cumbria,  kingdom  of,  107 ;  con- 
quered by  Egferth,  138 

Cunobelin  (Cymbeline),  33-4 

Cuthbert,  16 1-6  ;  wanderings  of 
his  remains,  266 

Cuthred  of  Wessex,  143 


f 


1 


INDEX, 


379 


Cymen,  97 
Cynegils,  129 
Cynewulf,  180 
Cynric,  98-9,  104 

D 

Danegelt,    297,    317  ;    repealed, 

328 

Danes,  first  mentioned,  80  ;  ap- 
peared in  England,  186 

Deal,  Caesar's  landing  at,  14-17 

Deorham  (Dereham),  battle  of, 
104 

Dio  Cassius,  historian,  quoted,  33, 

36,  37,  38,  53 
Diocletian,  Emperor  of  Rome,  82 
Domitian,  Emperor,  65,  67 
Dover,  14,  329 
Druids,  7-10,  48 
Duncan,  315 
Dunstan,  aim  sand  policy  of,  245-6; 

his  career,  247  et  seq.  ;  his  death, 

261 

E 

Eadburga,  148 

Ealcher,  defeats  the  Danes  at  sea, 
189 

Ealdred,  bishop  of  Worcester,  328 

Ealstan,  bishop,  182 

Ealswith,  daughter  of  Alfred,  226 ; 
dies,  228 

Ealswiih,  wife  of  King  Alfred,  202 

Eanfrid,  134 

Ebbsfleet,  94,  122 

Earpwarld,  King  of  East  Anglia, 
127 

Eata,  Abbot  of  Melrose,  163 

Eboracum  (York),  78,  103 

Edgar  the  Peaceable,  251  ;  his 
fleet,  253 ;  his  reforms,  255 ; 
his  death,  256 

Edhild,  236 

Edith,  wife  of  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor, 324  seq. 

Edmund,  Ironsides,  son  of  Ethel 
red  the   Unready,   fights   with 
Canute,  289  ;  crowned  at  Lon- 
don, 290 ;  his  campaigns,  290- 
94i  dies,  294 


Edmund,  son  of  Edward  the  Elder, 

239-40  ;  death  of,  241 
Edmund,  Sub-King  of  East  Anglia, 

193 
Ed  red,  241-4 

Edric,  289,  290,  293  seq. 

Edward  the  Confessor,  his  reign, 

320-54 
Edward  the  Elder,  his  reign,  210- 

229 
Edward  the  Martyr,  256-8 
Edwin  of  Deira,  132-3 
Egbert,  Archbishop  of  York,  158 
Egbert,  King  of  Wessex,  flies  to 

Off  a  of  Mercia,  180  ;  his  reign, 

182-4 
Egferth  of  Mercia,  149 
Egferth  of  Northumbria,  138-9 
Eglesford,  battle  of,  293 
Egwin,  mother  of  Athelstan,  229 
Elfleda,  148 
Elfric,  264 
Elfrida,  258 

Elgiva,  first  wife  of  Ethelred,  272 
Ella,  Chief  of  West  Saxons,  97-8 ; 

first  Bretwalda,  114 
Ella  (of  Northumbria),  124 
Ellandun,  battle  of,  182 

Ely,  195 

Emma  of  Normandy,  272  seq. 
Englefield,  battle  of,  194 
English      institutions,     &c.,      of 

people,  167-72 
Essex,  kingdom  of,  loi  ;  conver- 
sion of,  124 
Estrith,  306 

Ethelbald  of  Mercia,  142-3 
Ethelbald,  son  of  King  Ethelwulf, 

107 
Ethelbert,  first  Christian  king,  123 

seq.  ;  war  with  Ceawlin,    115; 

Bretwalda,  117;  death,  I19 
Ethelbtrt,  of  East  Anglia,  149 
Ethelburga,  126 
Ethelfled,  227,  228 
Ethelfrith,  119,  124,  126 
Ethelred,  of  Mercia,  141 
Ethelred,   Sub-King    of  Mercia, 

227 
Ethelred  the  Unrendy,  his  reign 

and  character,  26CH90 


■rk.  ^7~-k  ■i?^k'^^i^--:sfeg>^iif^-! 


38o 


INDEX, 


Ethel  wulf,  Alderman  of  Berkshire, 

194 
Ethelwulf,  son  and   successor  of 

Egbert,  188,  190,  195 
Eustace,  Count  of  Boulogne,  328-9 
Exeter,  203,  210;  betrayed  to  the 

Danes,  275 


Franks,  80 

Frethern,  battle  of,  104 ;   second 

battle  of,  115 
Fulford,  battle  of,  357 


Galba,  Emperor,  66 

Gallienus,  Emperor,  79 

Gallus,  Didius,  47 

Gerwold,  146 

Gessoriacum  (Bononia,  Boulogne), 
82 

Girling,  326 

Godgiva,  328 

Godwin,  Earl  of  Wessex,  supports 
Ilardicanute,  312;  connection 
with  death  of  the  ALheling 
Alfred,  313-4;  his  supremacy 
in  England,  322-9 ;  banished, 
330;  returns,   331  ;  his  death, 

344 
Goths,  88 

Gratianus,  Emperor  of  Rome,  87 
Gratianus,  Usurper  of  Britain,  87 
Gregory  (Pope).  120  seq. 
Griffith,  of  Wales,  315  seq. ;  killed, 

338 
Gunhild,  274 

Gurth,  son  of  Godwin,  324 

Guthlac,  the  hermit,  142 

Guihmund,  262 

Guthrum,  203 

Gytha,  wife  of  Earl  Godwin,  324 

II 

Hadrian,  Emperor  of  Rome,  67-9 
Hardicanute,  succeeds  to  crown, 

315  ;  dies,  319 
I  Iarold,Harefoot, succeeds  Canute, 

312;  death,  315 


Harold,  Hardrada,  356  ;  defeated 
and  slain  at  Stamford  Bridge, 

359-^ 
Harold,  son  of  Godwin,  Earl  of 

East    Anglia,    324 ;     fall    into 

hands  of  William  of  Normandy, 

340 ;    chosen    kmg,    354 ;    his 

reign,  355-75 

Hasting,  209,  210 

Hastingas,  144,  146 

Hengist,  92-6 

Herodotus,  quoted,  7 

Hexham,  battle  of,  135;  bishopric 
of,  164 

Hilda,  Abbess  of  Whitby,  151-2 

Hingvar,  193 

Honor. us,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, 128 

Honorius,  Emperor  of  W^est,  88 

Horsa,  93-6 

House  Carles,  302 


Iberians,  2  seq. 
Iceni,  39,  50 
Idwal,  253 
Ina,  of  Mercia,  179 
lona,  128 
Ireland,  63 


Jarrow,  1 57 
Judith,  197 
Justus,  128,  129 
Jutes,  94,  102 
Juvenal,  quoted,  67 

K 

Kent,  first  English  kingdom,  96 


Laelianus,  79  ' 

Lapps,  the,  2 

Leo  IV.  (Pope),  200 

Leofwin,   son   of   Godwin,    325 ; 

killed  at  Senlac.  373 
Lichfield,  Archbishopric  of,  148 
Lindsey,  103,  189,  191 


INDEX. 


381 


London,  52,  86,  103,  148,  207, 
227  ;  burnt,  266  ;  defeats  Olaf, 
266 ;  276,  278 

Lothan,  326 

Lucullus,  Sallustius,  66 

Lugdunum  (Ley den),  76 

Lugdunum  (Lyons),  87 

M 

Magnentius,  85 
Magnus  of  Sweden,  315 
Marcellus,  Ulpius,  76 
Marcus,  Usurper  in  Britain,  87 
Marius,  Usurper  in  Gaul,  80 
Massilia  (Mar  eilles),  i,  36 
Maximianus,  82,  85 
Maximus,  Emperor,  87 
Maximus,  Trebellius,  $6 
Mellitus,  124,  127 
•  Melrose,  Monastery  of,  163 
Mercia,    128  ;    rises   into   power, 
133  ;     supremacy    of,     141-9  J 
dechne,  150 
Mercred's-Burnsted  (Lye),  98 
Middle  Saxons,  loi 
Mona  (Anglesey),  48,  49,  60 
Morcar,  murdered  by  Edric,  289 

N 

Nero,  47,  55 

Normans,  80 ;  settlement  in  France, 

321  note 
North  and    South  Folk  (Norfolk 

and  Suffolk),  102 
Northumbria,  139  seq. 


O 

Odo  of  Bayeaux,  372 

Odo  of  Canterbury,  249 

Offa,  144-8 

Olaf   of   Nofway,    305  ;    killed, 

306 
Olaf  of  Sweden,  296 
Olaf  Tryggvason,  262,  266 
Ordovices,  40,  59 
Osburga,  199 
Oskylet,  203 
Oslac,  199 


Oswald,    sixth    Bretwalda,  112, 

128 ;  defeats  Cad  walla,  134; 
defeat  and  death,  136 

Oswin,    seventh   Bretwalda,  1 1 2, 

137 
Oswy,  136-8;  his  vow,  151 

Otford,  battle  of,  144 

Oxford,  Council  of,  297 


Partesbury,  battle  of,  140 
Paulinus  (Bishop),  126 
Paulinus  (Suetonius),  47,  55 
Peter's  Pence,  197 
Pevensey  (Anderida),  97 ;  William 

lands  at,  367 
Picts  and  Scots,  86-7 
Pius,  Antoninus,  74 
Plautius,  Aulus,  34-8 
Porta,  99 

Portus  Itius  (Issant),  22 
Postumus,  Latinius,  79 
Prasutagus,  38,  50 
Pytheas,  I 

R 

Radulf,  337 

Ramsgate,  94 

Redwald,  fourth  Bretwalda,  112, 

117,  119,  125 
Riccall,  357 

Richard  of  Normandy,  272,  344 
Ricula,  117 

Ripon,  monastery  of,  163 
Robtrt  of  Normandy,  301 
Rochester,  124,  148,  189 
Rollo.of  Normandy,  227 
Romans,  conquest  and  occupation 

of  the  Island,  12-88 
Roman  occupation,  traces  of,  88- 

' Romanian,  6S-7«J^  »^^    i    ^/^^ 
Rt^wp'lna,  93-    '         .   >    >    -    ,  •»  *^ 
Rutupiae  (Richborougli),  87 


J     .■  1  •-      i  1 
t  « J  t  J  •    •  « 

•      t    i     1      >        5       3         '    ' 


Sandwich,  biUk  ofj  289 
Saxons,  80,  98  et  seq. 
Saxcns.  Eas't,'*:^^  Essex* 
'  Saxojns(  Middle,  loi^ 


382 


INDEX. 


Saxons,  South,  98 

Saxons,  West,  98-IOI 

Saxon  Shore,  Count  of,  282 

Scapula,  Ostorius,  38,  39  se^. 

Sherburne,  148 

Seckington,  battle  of,  143 

Senlac  (Hastings),  battle  of,  370-4 

Severus,  Septiiiius,  76-8 

Sherston,  battle  of,  291 

Sibert,  124 

Sigebert,  127,  135-6 

Sigeric,  264 

Silchester,  72 

Silures,  the,  2,  40,  46,  57 

Siward,  323,  335-6 

Sleswick,  102 

Somerton,  142 

Stamford   Bridge,  battle   of,    358 

Stephen  of  Hungary,  296 
Stigand,  298,  334  set/. 
Stilicho,  87 
Stonehenge,  10 
Strathclyde,  kingdom  of,  107 
Suetonius  (Historian),  quoted,  31, 

36,37 

Suetonius,  see  Paulinus 

Sussex,  kingdom,  founded,  98 ; 
conversion  of,  131 

Sussex,  iron  fields  of,  15 

Sweyn  (Swegen),  king  of  Den- 
mark, 275  ;  invades  England, 
277  ;  returns,  285  ;  virtually 
king,  287  ;  legend  of  his  death, 
287 

Sweyn  (son  of  Godwin),  324-6 

Swithun,  196 


Tacitus,  quoted,  2,  13,  39,  43,  51, 

62,  66 
Te^tudoy  th.e,  described,  24 
TbiricMS,' .Caitsv  Usurper,  'io 
Tdtferhall,  br.ttlo  of,  227 
Thanet,  Isle  of,  94 
Theodosius,  86*  * 
Theo^los'.ufi  I.,  S7    '  :;  ; 

thorkill,  285-6 
Thurgar,  193 
Tijus  (E-rnpeijor),  3/.    ,    :    . 

ToSg,  3.-5    ,    . 


Togidumnus,  35 
Tostig,  335,  342-3,. 355-60 
Turpilianus,  Petronius,  56 
Twyford,  Synod  of,  164 

U 
Uffa,  103 
Ulfkytel,  277,  282 
Urbicus,  Lollius,  74 


Vaerdalen,  battle  of,  306 
Valentia,  86 
Valentinian  I.,  86 
Valentinian  H.,  87 
Valerian,  Emperor,  79 
Val-es-Dunes,  battle  of,  347 
Veranius,  Quintus,  47 
Verulamium,  52 
Vespasian,  35,  37,  56 
Victorinus,  80 
Vohisenus,  13 
'Cortigern,  legend  of,  92-3 

W 

Wales  (North),  107 

Wales  (West),  105 

Wall,  see  Roman  wall 

Wantage,  199 

Wearmonth,  157 

Wednesbury,  battle  of,  14I 

"  Welsh,"  the,  96 

Wends,  the,  290 

Wer-gild,  168 

Whitby,  152 

Wight,  Isle  of,  38,  99,  lOI,  140 

Wihtgar,  99 

Wilfrid,  129 

William  of  Malmesbury,  1 16 

William  of  Normandy,  344 ;  his 

youth,   345-7  ;   marriage,   349  ; 

invasion  of  Englan-I,  361-75 
Wimbledon,  battle  of,  I15 
Winchester,  148 
.Wippeds fleet,  96 
iWitenageinot,  172 
Wlenking,  97 
Worcester,  sack  of,  317 
Wulfhere,  138,  140,  141 
Wulfnoth,  324 


The  Story  of  the  Nations. 


MESSRS.  G.  p.  PUTNAM'S  SONS  take  pleasure  in 
announcing  that  they  have  in  course  of  publication,  in 
co-operation  with  Mr.  T.  Fisher  Unwin,  of  London,  a 
series  of  historical  studies,  intended  to  present  in  a  graphic 
manner  the  stories  of  the  different  nations  that  have 
attained  prominence  in  history. 

In  the  story  form  the  current  of  each  national  life  is 
distinctly  indicated,  and  its  picturesque  and  noteworthy 
periods  and  episodes  are  presented  for  the  reader  in  theil 
philosophical  relation  to  each  other  as  well  as  to  universal 

history. 

It  is  the  plan  of  the  writers  of  the  different  volumes  to 
enter  into  the  real  life  of  the  peoples,  and  to  bring  them 
before  the  reader  as  they  actually  lived,  labored,  and 
struggled— as  they  studied  and  wrote,  and  as  they  amused 
themselves.  In  carrying  out  this  plan,  the  myths,  with 
which  the  history  of  all  lands  begins,  will  not  be  over- 
looked,  though  these  will  be  carefully  distinguished  from 
the  actual  history,  so  far  as  the  labors  of  the  accepted 
historical  authorities  have  resulted  in  definite  conclusions. 

The  subjects  of  the  different  volumes  have  been  planned 
to  cover  connecting  and,  as  far  as  possible,  consecutive 
epochs  or  periods,  so  that  the  set  when  completed  will 
present  in  a  comprehensive  narrative  the  chief  events  in 
the  great  STORY  OF  the  Nations  ;  but  it  is,  of  course, 
not  always  practicable  to  issue  the  several  volumes  in 
their  chronological  order* 


■'.) 

{■ 


The  "  Stories  **  are  printed  in  good  readable  type,  and 
in  handsome  i2mo  form.  They  are  adequately  illustrated 
and  furnished  with  maps  and  indexes.  Price,  per  vol., 
cloth,  $1.50.     Half  morocco,  gilt  top,  $175. 

The  following  are  now  ready  : 


GREECE.  Prof.  Jas.  A.  Harri- 
son. 

ROME.    Arthur  Oilman. 

THE  JEWS.  Prof.  James  K. 
Hosmer. 

CHALDEA.    Z.  A.  Ragozin. 

GERMANY.    S.  Baring-Gould. 

NORWAY.  Hjalmar  H.  Boye- 
sen. 

SPAIN.    Rev.  E.  E.  and  Susan 

Hale. 

HUNGARY.  Prof.  A.  Vamb6ry. 

CARTHAGE.  Prof.  Alfred  J. 
Church. 

THE  SARACENS.  Arthur  Gil- 
man. 

THE  MOORS  IN  SPAIN. 
Stanley  Lane-Poole. 

THE  NORMANS.  Sarah  Orne 
Jewett. 

PERSIA.     S.  G.  W.  Benjamin. 

ANCIENT  EGYPT.  Prof.  Geo. 
Rawlinson. 

ALEXANDER'S  EMPIRE. 
Prof.  J.  P.  Mahaffy. 

ASSYRIA.     Z.  A.  Ragozin. 

THE  GOTHS.    Henry  Bradley. 

IRELAND.  Hon.  Emily  Law- 
less. 

TURKEY.  Stanley  Lane- 
Poole. 

MEDIA,  BABYLON,  AND 
PERSIA.     Z.  A.  Ragozin. 

MEDIAEVAL  FRANCE.  Prof. 
Gustave  Masson. 

HOLLAND.  Prof.  J.  Ti;orold 
Rogers. 

MEXICO.    Susan  Hale. 

PHCENICIA.    Geo.  Rawlinson. 

THE  HANSA  TOWNS.  Helen 
Zimmem. 


EARLY  BRITAIN.    Prof.  Al- 
fred J.  Church. 

THE  BARBARY  CORSAIRS. 
Stanley  Lane-Poole. 

RUSSIA.    W.  R.  Morfill. 

THE  JEWS  UNDER  ROME. 
W.  D.  Morrison. 

SCOTLAND.      John    Mackin- 
tosh. 

SWITZERLAND.  R.  Stead 
and  Mrs.  A.  Hug. 

PORTUGAL.  H.  Morse  Ste- 
vens. 

THE  BYZANTINE  EMPIRE. 
C.  W.  C.  Oman. 

SICILY.    E.  A.  Freeman. 

THE  TUSCAN  REPUBLICS. 
Bella  Duffy. 

POLAND.    W.  R.  Morfill. 

PARTHIA.    Geo.  Rawlinsoa.' 

JAPAN.     David  Murray. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  RECOV- 
ERY OF  SPAIN.  H.  E. 
Watts. 

AUSTRALASIA.  GrevilleTre- 

garthen. 
SOUTHERN  AFRICA.    Geo. 

M.  Theal. 
VENICE.    Alethea  Wiel. 
THE      CRUSADES.     T.     S. 

Archer  and  C.  L.  Kingsford. 
VEDIC  INDIA.  Z.  A.  Ragozin. 
BOHEMIA.    C.  E.  Maurice. 
CANADA.    J.  G.  Bourinot. 
THE     BALKAN      STATES. 

William   Miller. 
BRITISH  RULE  IN   INDIA. 

R.  W.  Frazer. 
MODERN   FRANCE.     Andr« 

Le  Bon. 


Heroes  of  the  Nations. 


EDITED  BY 


EVELYN  ABBOTT,  M.A., 

Fellow  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford. 


A  Series  of  biographical  studies  of  the  lives  and  work 
of  a  number  of  representative  historical  characters  about 
whom  have  gathered  the  great  traditions  of  the  Nations 
to  which  they  belonged,  and  who  have  been  accepted,  in 
many  instances,  as  types  of  the  several  National  ideals. 
With  the  life  of  each  typical  character  will  be  presented 
a  picture  of  the  National  conditions  surrounding  him 
during  his  career. 

The  narratives  are  the  work  of  writers  who  are  recog- 
nized authorities  on  their  several  subjects,  and,  while 
thoroughly  trustworthy  as  history,  will  present  picturesque 
and  dramatic  "  stories  "  of  the  Men  and  of  the  events  con- 
nected with  them. 

To  the  Life  of  each  "  Hero  "  will  be  given  one  duo- 
decimo volume,  handsomely  printed  in  large  type,  pro- 
vided with  maps  and  adequately  illustrated  according  to 
the  special  requirements  of  the  several  subjects.  The 
volumes  will  be  sold  separately  as  follows : 


Large  \2°,  cloth  extra   . 

Half  morocco,  uncut  edges,  gilt  top 


I   50 

I  75 


The  following  are  now  ready  : 


Nelson,  and  the  Naval  Supremacy  of  England.     By  W.  Clakk  Russell,  author  .f 

''  The  Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor,"  etc.  ^      ir    •  *-«^*      n^  C   U 

Gustavtis  Adolphus  and  the  Struggle  of  Protestantism  for  Existence.    By  C.  R. 

L.  Fletcher,  M.A.,  late  Fellow  of  All  Souls  College. 
Pericles,  and  the  Golden  Age  of  Athens,     fey  Evflvk  ABBorr  M.A. 
Theodore  the   Goth,   the   Barbarian    Champion  of  Civilisation.      By  Thomas 

HcDGKiv   author  of  "Italy  and  Her  Invaders,"  etc.  ^       „  .. 

Sir  Philip  Sidney,  and  rt=  Chivalry  of  England.     By  H.  R.  Fox  Bou««e,  author 

of  "  The  Life  of  John  Locke,"  etc. 
Julius  C«sar,  and  the   Organisation  of  the  Roman   Ea.p.r..     By  W.  ^VA.n. 

Fowler   M.A.,  Fellow  of  Lincoln  College,  Oxford.  ..  ^  „   ,  n 

John  Wyclif,  Last  of  the  Schoolmen  and  Firs,  of  the  Enghsh  Reformers.     By 

T  pwm  Sergeant,  author  of  "  New  Greece,"  etc. 
Napoleon    War'o;  and  Ruler,  and  .he  Military  Supremacy  of  Revolut.onary 

France       Bv  W.  O'ConN'K  Mokms. 
Henry  of  Navarre,  and  the  Huguenots  of  France.    By  P   F.  W.l.ekt,  M.A.,  Fel- 

low  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford. 
Cicero,  and  the  Fall  of  the  Roman  Republic.     By  J.  L.  Strachan-Davidson,  M.A., 

Fellow  of  Ballioi  College,  Oxford.  „     ^t  t> 

Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the  Downfall  of  American  Slavery      By  Noah  Bkooks 
PHnce  Henry  (of  Portugal)  the  Navigator,  and  the  Age  of  Discovery.     By  C.  R. 

BiiAZLEY,  Fellow  of  Merton  College,  Oxford.  *  ru,:„t;.„;tv 

Julian  the  I^hilosopher.  and  the  Last  Struggle  of  Paganism  against  Christianity. 

Lol'xiv.'.'lnTre  Zenith  of  the   French  Monarchy.     By  Arthur  Hassall, 

M.A.,  Senior  Student  of  Christ  Church  College   Oxford. 
Charles  XII.,  and  the  Collapse  of  the  Swedish  Empire,  1682-1719.     By  R.  Nisbet 

Lore^nzo'de'  Medici,  and  Florence  in  the  15th  Century.     By  Edward  Armstrong, 

M  A.,  Fellow  of  Queens's  College,  Oxford. 
leann^d'Arc.     Her  Life  and  Death.    By  Mrs.  Oliphant. 

Christopher  Columbus.     Hie  Life  and  Voyages.     By  ^'-"--^ ^X'^^^^,,, 
Robert  the  Bruce,  and  the  Struggle  for  Scottish  Independence.     By  Sir  Herbert 

HanitbaTsol^e!;  Statesman.  Patriot ;  and  the  Crisis  of  the  Struggle  between 
Carthkge  and  Rome.    By  W.  O'Connor  Mokr.s,  Sometime  Scholar  of  Onel  Col- 

Uly^'c^  srSrlnt,  and  the  Period  of  National  Preservation  and  Reconstruction, 

ISM-IBS';      By  LiEUT.-CoL.  WiLL!.\M  Conant  Church. 
Robert  E    Lee.' and    the   Southern   Confederacy,    .807-1870.     By  Prop.  Henrv 

Alexander  White,  of  the  Washington  and  Lee  University. 
The  Cid  Campeador,  and  the   Waning  of  the   Crescent  m  the  West.    By  H. 

Butler  Clarke,  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford. 

To  6e  folloived  by  : 
Moltke,  and  the  Military  Supremacy  of  Germany.     By  Spencer  Wilkinson,  T^n- 

BismTrr^The'-New  German  Empire.  How  it  Arose  and  What  it  Displaced. 

By  W.  J.  Headla.m,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  King's  Collage.  „     r  . 

Judas  Maccabeus,  the  Conflict  between  Hellenism  and  Hebraism.     By  Israel 

Abrahams,  author  of  the  "  Jews  of  the  Middle  Ages.' 
Henry  V.,  the  English  Hero  King.     By  Charles  L.  Kingsford,  joint-author  of  the 

"  Story  of  the  Crusades." 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  New  York  and  London. 


COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY   LIBRARIES 

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